Following the sentencing of Emma Walsh for the brutal murder of Gary Morgan, domestic abuse charities have spoken out on the incident in a bid to help those who may be suffering.
Yesterday (Monday, October 17) Emma Walsh was jailed for life with a minimum term of 18 years after she knifed Gary Morgan to death at her home on Lavan Close in Everton. It was heard in court that Walsh and Mr Morgan had been in a relationship for around a year and a half before the fatal night.
Sentencing, the Honorary Recorder of Liverpool Judge Andrew Menary KC described Mr Morgan as a "kind, quiet and considerate man" who was "loved by all", saying: “You were making his life an utter misery. For little or no reason, but typically when you were drunk, your temper explodes and Gary Morgan was often on the receiving end.
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"The reality is that Gary Morgan posed no threat to you at all that night. It is a tragic irony that so many members of his family, and Gary Morgan himself, predicted that if he stayed with you - a woman he so obviously loved - you would end up killing him.
"You knew full well that you had an explosive temper and were prone to using implements to cause harm. There had been plenty of warnings in the past, but you were unwilling or unable to change."
Now, a number of charities have spoken out following the shocking trial. Paul Gladwell, co-founder of the Paul Lavelle Foundation, set up the charity after his friend Paul Lavelle, 50, was killed when his partner, Sarah Lewis, attacked him at his home in Rock Ferry with a jagged shard of broken plate in May 2017.
Lewis, of Croxteth Avenue, Seaforth, left Mr Lavelle to slowly bleed to death and was jailed for seven-and-a-half years in January 2018. Paul Gladwell said: "Our foundation wishes to pass on our condolences to all family and friends of Gary Morgan at the end of this tragic case.
"We know, ourselves, the pain of such cruelty and we are battling daily to highlight, support and educate people about the problems surrounding male domestic abuse victims. One in three victims of domestic abuse are men, this is not a drop in the ocean that some seem to think and the lack of knowledge of this statistic and almost ignorance to these numbers only help fuel male silence.
"We know only too well with the men we support that the fear of being believed hampers their desire to speak out about the hell they are living through and we owe it to men like Paul and Gary to change this mentality.
"Since we lost Paul we set up our service where we have supported over 270 men suffering abuse at the hands of a partner, many of them will tell you the hardest part was that first knock on the door to our support team, many of them will then tell you they are glad they made that knock.
"Silence does not work, one of our mottos is 'once words are spoken things change' and this is so true with domestic abuse. Please don't suffer in silence contact us either online through our media pages or directly to our support team https://paullavellefoundation.co.uk/referral-forms/self-referral/."
Mark Brooks, chair of the ManKind Initiative charity for male victims of domestic abuse said: "Gary's sad death proves once again that men, as well as women, are victims of domestic abuse. There is no shame in being a man in this situation and you can leave and get help.
"Thousands of men go through this every day and importantly thousands leave as well, so you can too. Importantly there is help from local organisations that will take men seriously and will help, including the Paul Lavelle Foundation and Merseyside Police.
"Across Merseyside, I would suggest that local councils and the police redouble their efforts to publicise and fund the support available to male victims. Men need to know there is the support there for them because too many are not aware of what domestic abuse is and where they can go. It is why far too many men do not come forward."
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