A woman serving a life sentence for murdering her abusive partner is due to have her case heard at the Court of Appeal tomorrow. Lisa Ellwood was convicted of stabbing Ryan Ellwood in 2024. She was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 16 years.
Her appeal is being supported by the Centre for Women’s Justice who say the case ‘exposes how women who survive abuse can be punished not only for the violence inflicted on them, but for how they learned to cope with it.’ The organisation has planned a demonstration outside the Royal Courts of Justice on Friday to show public support.
Lisa Ellwood had been drinking heavily when she stabbed her husband at their home. She had no memory of what had happened, which the judge said at trial meant their was insufficient evidence to support a case for self-defence. Permission to appeal the conviction has been granted on the basis that the judge had refused to allow an expert psychologist, who had extensive experience of working with survivors of domestic abuse, to give his opinion on whether Lisa was impacted by her mental health conditions at the time of the offence and whether this condition taking into account the background circumstances to the killing, substantially reduced her responsibility. The Centre for Women’s Justice say this conviction ‘reflects a system failure’, one where ‘women are tried in circumstances where the full context of a history of domestic abuse is not taken into account.’
Lisa Ellwood had a diagnosis of depression and complex post-traumatic stress disorder, stemming from lifelong abuse and domestic violence, including having been raped as a teenager. Ryan Ellwood had repeatedly assaulted Lisa throughout their relationship, including pushing her down the stairs, punching and strangling her. The CWJ say Lisa didn’t report his violence to the police as she was ‘terrified’ that social services would become involved and her children would be removed. A neighbour who had witnessed Ryan attacking Lisa gave evidence at trial, describing that Lisa ‘never once fought back’.
The CWJ say Lisa Ellwood is one of over 30 women who have approached them in the last six years who have been convicted of the murder of men who were violent and controlling of them. CWJ are helping them to explore grounds of appeal.
The Chief Executive of the Centre for Women’s Justice, Harriet Wistrich, was interviewed for the latest issue of PROOF magazine. Find out more and purchase your copy here.
