Is a Ligature a “Knife or Other Weapon”? R v Morgan [2018] EWCA Crim 954; [2018] WLR (D) 177
| Author | Andrew Beetham |
| Published date | 01 August 2019 |
| Date | 01 August 2019 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/0022018319857254 |
| Subject Matter | Case Notes |
The Journal of Criminal Law
2019, Vol. 83(4) 294–297
Is a Ligature a “Knife
ª The Author(s) 2019
Article reuse guidelines:
or Other Weapon”?
sagepub.com/journals-permissions
DOI: 10.1177/0022018319857254
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R v Morgan [2018] EWCA Crim 954;
[2018] WLR (D) 177
Keywords
Weapon, ligature, 25-year starting point, Criminal Justice Act 2003, sch 21 para 5A
The Applicant was a married businessman and the victim worked as an escort. The Applicant not only
paid for sexual intercourse with the victim but also bought her presents (including a car) and paid her
household bills. After approximately three years, the relationship was ‘put on a more regular footing’. In
exchange for the victim ceasing work as an escort altogether (thereby only having sexual intercourse
with the Applicant), she would be paid approximately £7000 a month and would move into a house
owned by the Applicant on a rent-free basis.
In November 2015, the victim’s former partner (and father of the victim’s daughter) hanged himself,
which the victim took badly due to her own father dying in a similar fashion. As a result, the victim
resorted to drink and drugs and blamed the Applicant for the possibility that her daughter might be taken
into care by local social services. The victim subsequently commenced a relationship with another man.
As a result of his concern about the victim’s behaviour, the Applicant installed a listening device into the
house. Through this device, the Applicant learnt that the victim intended to leave him, that she had been
lying about the possibility of social services taking her daughter into care, that she intended to obtain full
ownership of the house, that she intended to start working as an escort again and also that she planned to
continually exploit the Applicant financially through blackmail. The Applicant learnt that the victim had
photographs and videos of her and the Applicant engaging in sexual acts in the house the Applicant
shared with his wife and family which she intended to send to them.
As a result of what he learnt, the Applicant compiled a list of items required to kill the victim and
to dispose of her body. The Applicant obtained bailing twine and prepared it as a ligature. The
Applicant however also prepared for a revival of their relationship: he took out a £1 million life
insurance policy upon himself with the victim as the sole beneficiary and bought her presents. On 12
January 2016, the Applicant attended the victim’s home, however no revival of the relationship took
place as the victim continued to blame the Applicant for the potential loss of her daughter, she was
not grateful for the presents and she blamed the Applicant for everything that had happened to her.
The Applicant put the bailing twine ligature round her neck and pulled the ligature tight but then
loosened it, he then repeated this. The Applicant tightened the ligature a third time until she was
dead. The Applicant then hid the body of the victim. In due course, the Applicant was arrested and
made a full confession of his actions.
The...
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