John Swinney to give 'serious consideration' to non-fatal strangulation offence

John Swinney has said the Scottish Government will give "serious consideration" to creating a standalone criminal offence of non-fatal strangulation.

The First Minister said it was an “abhorrent act”, adding: “I fully recognise the significant physical and psychological impact this type of criminality has on victims and their families.”

It follows a petition launched by Fiona Drouet, whose daughter Emily took her own life at the age of 18 after being choked and slapped by her boyfriend while a student at the University of Aberdeen.

First Minister John Swinney | Jane Barlow/PA Wire

Scotland is the only part of the UK not to have introduced specific legislation to target non-fatal strangulation. England and Wales did so in 2022, with Northern Ireland following in 2023.

Speaking in Holyrood, Mr Swinney said: “Conduct amounting to non-fatal strangulation is already a criminal offence under the common law of assault, and carries maximum penalties of up to life imprisonment.

“We do, however, constantly keep the law under review. If there was to be a standalone offence put in place, we would need to be confident there was a gap in the law, and we will be giving this proposal serious consideration.”

SNP MSP Michelle Thomson said a defence of so-called “rough sex” is being used and accepted by courts and called for a standalone offence to be introduced.

She said it was a “known, serious and growing problem”, adding: “35 per cent of women between the ages of 16 to 34 have experience of it, and each year that passes sees more violence, strokes and deaths.

“It is clear that the common law route is not working, and indeed as Fiona Drouet, who lost her daughter, says, ‘We know you are eight times more likely to be murdered by the person that has strangled you. We cannot ignore that. We can’t treat it like common law assault because it’s fair more complicated, far more complex and far more dangerous.’”

Ms Thomson said “doing nothing more is not an option”, and stressed the need for more data collection, an awareness programme and a “clearer prosecution route”.

Responding during First Minister’s Questions, Mr Swinney said the behaviour of boys and men needed to change.

He added: “We will look at all the measures we need to take in terms of criminal offences, but I will lead from the front a campaign to say to boys and men in Scotland that their behaviour has got to improve.”

Tory MSP Tess White said a woman will lose consciousness within six to eight seconds of choking and will be brain dead within four minutes. She called on the First Minister to review the law and to meet with experts and campaigners.

Labour MSP Claire Baker said non-fatal strangulation during consensual sex “is becoming increasingly common to the extent that it is being normalised”.

Official figures show there were nine female strangulation victims in Scotland in 2022/23.

Ms Drouet previously told the BBC: "It is really difficult thinking about your daughter being strangled to the point that she thought she was going to die and we absolutely think that impacted her decision to take her own life.

"We know that there is psychological damage, there’s physical damage it might be short or long term but that damage is very real."