Comments on: Non-fatal strangulation and suffocation: Why was this new offence necessary and what has been its impact?

By: Anon

Anon — Tue, 13 Feb 2024 19:35:15 +0000

In summary, the legislation is redundant, and changes nothing…

It’s a classic move by politicians who hope to gain political capital at the expense of time spent improving our lives.

By: Kingsley

Kingsley — Tue, 13 Feb 2024 19:15:00 +0000

A very interesting read! This topic certainly needs more mainstream attention. The government’s taking a step in the right direction, but clearly more work needs to be done.

By: Al

Al — Tue, 13 Feb 2024 17:15:48 +0000

That was a great article Lucy; well done!

I have been semi following this development as a member of chambers was heavily involved in campaigning and lobbying for this. But I love your breakdown of the background and analysis of the issues.

It’s interesting that the new offences seem to be deemed a species of ABH. But that is handy. You can of course consent to ABH, but not GBH. Had they equated the new offence with GBH then arguably you could no longer teach people self defence or some martial arts, as they can involve choking.

Be interesting to see what happens when prosecutions for the new offence start to come through the system. Although with the current court backlog that’s unlikely to be before 2025 at the earliest.

I hope you do a follow up article when we have some cases to look at.