The son of a woman convicted of murdering her husband with a hammer has claimed society 'let her down' as a victim of domestic abuse ahead of her landmark appeal which could secure her freedom.
Sally Challen bludgeoned husband Richard, 61, to death at the couple's £1million Surrey home in 2010.
A day later she wrapped his body in a curtain and drove to notorious suicide spot Beachy Head, where she was talked out of jumping by a chaplain.
Challen, who turns 65 today, was later jailed for murder but her children James, 35, and David, 31, have campaigned for her freedom for years claiming she was subjected to a 'lifelong campaign of psychological abuse and rape' by Mr Challen which caused her to snap.
David was joined by protesters from Justice for Women outside the Court of Appeal this morning where she could be freed if judges decided she should have been convicted of manslaughter.
And appearing on Good Morning Britain, David said his mother should have been afforded more protection by the law at her original trial.
Sally Challen, right, 65, was jailed for 22 years for murdering her husband Richard, left, 61, with a hammer in August 2010 but her sons David, 31, and James, 35, claim she was the victim of decades of abuse including rape and psychological torment by their father
David, pictured left, joined protesters from Justice for Women outside the Court of Appeal today where judges will decide whether Challen should have been convicted of manslaughter, which could lead to her freedom
A huge crowd gathered outside the court in London today, pictured, to demand Challen be freed by the judges
David, pictured left outside court, also appeared on Good Morning Britain today, right, and said society had 'let his mother down' as a victim of domestic abuse
The campaigners say new psychiatric evidence shows 'coercive control' was responsible for her actions following the decades of abuse.
Coercive control became a legal defence in 2015 but was therefore not available to Challen at her trial in June 2011.
Challen is appearing at her conviction appeal over a video link from HMP Bronzefield in Ashford, Surrey.
She was sentenced to 22 years in prison after a trial in July of that year, which was later reduced to 18 years by appeal in November 2011.
Last March she was granted the right to challenge the conviction, leading to today's hearing.
David appeared on Good Morning Britain today and said society had let his mother down as a victim of domestic abuse and that she should have had the defence of coercive control.
He said: 'As a society we let her down. We let victims of domestic violence down as well.
'She should have been afforded protections. If we all had that language she wouldn’t be in this position
'We lost a father as well – people forget that. We all acknowledge, could we have done more?
'Without the language you feel – helpless – I felt helpless for eight years. We haven’t had the language to give examples
'Our mother deserve the right to freedom she never had that right it was stolen from her.
'As sons we deserve rights to the recognition of the acts that led to our father’s death. We have to recognise that.'
Mr Challen, left, said the appeal was an opportunity for the court to recognise the 'lifetime of abuse' his mother suffered and how she was 'driven to' commit her actions
David said his father, right, started mentally abusing his mother shortly after they met more than 40 years ago when she was 15 and he was 22
At her trial the prosecution said Challen, pictured left on her wedding day and right with her husband, was driven by jealousy over possible infidelity
Speaking before the hearing, David added: 'I've exhausted myself and my energy for what I can do as a son for my parents to get across the true understanding of what has happened.
'This affects not just our mother but thousands of victims who don't have a voice, both men and women.
'Me and my brother have spoken out, not just for our parents but for other victims too.
'We have had a lifetime of living with this and eight years trying to find the words.'
Meanwhile in a joint statement ahead of the appeal, the brothers said: 'Our mother's appeal is a landmark case, the first of its kind to use coercive control as a part of a defence to murder.
'This appeal crucially provides an opportunity to recognise the lifelong abuse Sally suffered and, in the hope of understanding the cause of her actions, provides an understanding of how she was driven to take the life of our father, Richard.'
At her 2011 trial at Guildford Crown Court, Challen, of Claygate, Surrey, admitted killing the former car dealer but denied murder, claiming diminished responsibility.
The prosecution case was that it was the action of a jealous woman who suspected infidelity.
Her lawyers will argue that, had it been available at the time, she would not have been found guilty of murder and will ask the court to overturn her conviction and substitute a manslaughter conviction in its place.
Challen's solicitor Harriet Wistrich, who helped victims of rapist John Worboys successfully fight against his release by the Parole Board after just eight years in jail, said: 'Domestic violence is often visualised in the form of a woman with a black eye or broken arm.
'The concept of coercive and controlling behaviour provides a much more comprehensive picture of the combined methods of coercion and control that can lead a victim to become so subject to the bullying of another that her liberty is effectively removed.
'We are not arguing in this case that coercive control would provide a complete defence to murder, but the circumstances of a lifelong marriage amount to a form of provocation, which should reduce a murder conviction to manslaughter.'
Challen, pictured with one of her sons as a child, should have been afforded more legal protection at her original trial, according toher family
Her husband, pictured, subjected his wife to a 'pressure cooker' of abuse, according to his children
Mr Challen, pictured, has also spoken of how he is 'exhausted' by the years of campaigning
The appeal will be heard by Lady Justice Hallett, Mr Justice Sweeney and Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb and is expected to last two days.
Speaking on Good Morning Britain last year, David said the history of abuse started when his mother met her husband when she was just 15.
He said: 'It's important to state that my mother met my father when she was 15 and he was 22.
'Her father died when she was five and her brothers were at university at the time. So the male influence in her life was initially from my father. And parameters were set early on with an infidelity.
'(He said) 'Don't make me choose between her or you Sally - my mum - because I would choose her'. So young sweetheart love - the parameters were set.
'I think 16 to 56 you've got a pressure cooker going of a world that's built around him and she only knows one relationship. And she can't diagnose it and I think a lot of people in the country are in a similar situation.
'She would try to keep track of phone records, print them out and present them to him. He would say 'you're making it up - you're going crazy'. She caught him in a brothel once, red handed, and it confirmed her beliefs.
'She said to me and my brother once, separately "I thought I was losing touch of reality. I can see the facts right in front of me".
The 31-year-old last year told Good Morning Britain his father's abuse of his mother started shortly after she met him when she was just 15
Challen killed her husband at their £1million home in Surrey, pictured, in August 2010
'It wasn't until five years that we saw something like that happening and you could see that he was playing her. She managed to step away eventually.
'But he dangled out a post-nuptial agreement at the end which gave up all the rights to him and she knew her world all revolved around him so she was trapped.
'It was a shock, of course. I don't take away there is always going to be a love there (with my father). But the last thing I said to him was a torrent of abuse and how his words were verbally and mentally destroying my mother.
'Obviously it's been difficult. It's an alien thing to look at. She has coped as well as can be.
'The cornerstone was everything you believed with your mother you realised there and then that she missed a step in life and I think a lot of people miss that step in life when you just don't know.'
Link hienalouca.com
https://hienalouca.com/2019/02/27/protesters-call-for-woman-who-bludgeoned-husband-with-hammer-to-be-freed/
Main photo article The son of a woman convicted of murdering her husband with a hammer has claimed society ‘let her down’ as a victim of domestic abuse ahead of her landmark appeal which could secure her freedom.
Sally Challen bludgeoned husband Richard, 61, to death at the couple’s £1million Su...
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Dianne Reeves Online news HienaLouca
https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/02/27/10/10349814-6750977-image-m-4_1551262609096.jpg
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