A family whose daughter was murdered is hoping for a change in the law as her killer still has parental control of their children.
Jade Marsh, also known as Jade Ward, died at the hands of her estranged husband in a brutal attack that saw the young mum stabbed, slashed and strangled just yards away from their sleeping children. Cold-blooded murderer Russell Marsh was handed a life sentence for the brutal attack.
Marsh will serve at least 15 years for the horrific crime in Flintshire last August. But despite being in prison Marsh still has a way to put Ms Ward's family through the torturous court process for years to come.
READ MORE: Mum with tragic past loses three members of family to 'silent killer'
Despite being locked up for killing their mum Marsh still holds his parental responsibility over the four boys, who cannot be named for legal reasons. This means he still has control over various aspects of their welfare including their future medical needs or if they are ever taken out the country.
This means if the family wanted to take any of the children on holiday somewhere outside the UK Marsh would have to give permission. This would be done by way of another hearing through the family court.
Imprisonment does not automatically restrict parental responsibility in the UK. This can only happen following a voluntary agreement or if the other parent takes the incarcerated parent to court.
Ms Ward's family are now campaigning to make 'Jade's Law' a reality. They want to make sure nobody who suffers a sudden and brutal loss like they have need to endure the added pain of being faced with the killer time after time.
Family friend Edwin Duggan - a law graduate - was approached by Ms Ward's mum Karen Robinson for help with the campaign. He has launched a petition calling for the automatic suspension of parental responsibility of any parent found guilty of murdering the other parent.
He told North Wales Live : "I've known Karen since she was a teenager through being friends with her brother about 40 years ago and I've therefore known Jade since she was young. What happened to the family was utterly tragic. At the moment, as the law stands, Marsh still has parental responsibility.
"Although that is limited during his time in custody, the family are now faced with having to seek his permission for anything that relates to their welfare during the time they are in the care of anyone other than their parents. We all want this change in the law to create some sort of measure for future children that find themselves involved in tragic circumstances such as these and their surviving family from having to go back through further court processes."
Mr Duggin said that a petition was set up once before in the wake of Ms Ward's death. However, due to the ongoing legal proceedings at the time, it proved difficult to share and generate awareness without impacting on Marsh's then upcoming trial. So far, the petition has been signed by more then 1,500 people from across the UK. There is a target of gathering at least 10,000 signatures by October for the UK Government to respond.
To support the petition, go to https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/614893
