Jade Ward: Petition over killer parent rights up for award

A petition to change the law over prisoners' parental rights has been nominated for an award.

It is named after Jade Ward, who was stabbed and strangled at her home in Shotton, Flintshire, by her ex-partner in 2021.

Russell Marsh was jailed for a minimum of 25 years for her murder.

But he assumed guardianship of the 27-year-old's children while in prison and continued to contact the family asking for photographs and school reports.

Jade's family, alongside friend Edwin Duggan, then campaigned to change the law and suspend the rights of killer parents who, under current laws, need to be consulted on decisions affecting their children such as health, education and travel.

The petition received 130,179 signatures and was debated in Parliament in November 2022.

In October 2023, the UK government announced it would introduce Jade's Law by amending the Victims and Prisoners Bill.

The new legislation will introduce an automatic suspension of parental responsibility while any mother or father is serving time for killing the person with whom they shared that role.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said it was an important move after such an "awful crime".

It means the burden will no longer be on family members to apply to the family court to ask for the parental rights of a killer to be removed.

"I found a flaw in the legal system which failed families," said Mr Duggan, who was backed by a group of volunteer helpers called TeamJade.

"Campaigning has been both emotional and rewarding, but the road to success has been long.

"Failure is not in my vocabulary though and the legacy for Jade is now complete."

Jade's Law is one of three campaigns nominated for Petition of the Year by the House of Commons Petitions Committee.

The winner of the Petition Campaign of the Year Award will be announced at the end of February.