No more ‘rough sex’ defence

Salacious headlines, such as ‘sex game gone wrong’, certainly catch our attention. But the undertones behind this defence often remained masked. That was until the murder of 22-year-old British backpacker Grace Millane. When Grace’s killer, who strangled her in his hotel room after a Tinder date in Auckland, New Zealand, claimed she died accidentally during BDSM sex, anger rippled around the world – and the UK criminal justice system.

While Jesse Kempson was convicted of murder, his defence had exposed intimate details of Grace’s sex life. This defence has been used more than 60 times in the UK by those accused of murder since 1972, according to campaign group We Can’t