I'm glad Sally Challen is out.

I would feel uncomfortable criticising her or the subsequent decisions of the court. As others have said, it’s a deeply sad case with no winners, she’s had over 9 years in prison and will never be free nor will her sons.

I too am torn in this case.

She suffered so much and I don’t understand the dependency on someone who makes your life hell. I can understand women who stay in a relationship because they are terrified of being physically brutalised and fear their partner will hunt them down if they left.

There must be something wrong with the mind of a person who needs to control , to humiliate another

It is very easy for those of us who have never been in that position to say "why didn't she just leave".

I used to live near to a women's shelter and got to know some of the women. I asked them why they didn't leave and they all said the same thing, they had nowhere to go, afraid their partner would find them again, no-one would believe them because to the outside world their partner was charming and good natured it was only at home he was abusive. I also asked what finally gave them the courage to leave - again the answer was invariably "he started on the kids"

I just think it is a very sad case all round. I feel sorry for them all as there is no good outcome. They are all scarred for life.

It is a difficult case and Sally certainly suffered terribly at the hands of her husband.

Like some other posters I am torn in this case. Taking a hammer was premeditated, therefore the whole case comes down to the mental abuse. None of us are the same so no one can ever know how badly someone is affected!!

Anniebach makes an interesting point *“Is the mind of the abuser unbalanced ? . To want to control
another human being.”*
I hadn’t thought of that. Was her husband therefore mentally ill??? Certainly puts another side to things. Maybe he couldn’t help the way he was and he needed help??

I do agree with Ellanvannin too, to a point, about this setting a precedent!

As GrannyGravy13 says unless you have been in a situation like hers it is difficult to understand what made her “break”.

She had bought her own house when she left him , how could he control her contact with the outside world

I think he controlled what money she had, and he controlled her contact with the outside world.

I think Sally Challen's case has been handled correctly; her killing of her husband was pre-meditated and she served a sentence for that; equally I believe she was suffering some form of mental disorder at the time and for some time previously due constant emotional abuse from her husband; and finally, I believe she regards herself as guilty and will continue to do so for the rest of her life.
A very tragic case.

To be armed with a hammer, the same as carrying guns/knives is usually with the intention to harm/kill, otherwise you wouldn't do so.
What the courts have to decide is whether or not there was a genuine intention to kill/murder and it's very difficult decision to conclude with whether it was involuntary manslaughter ( unlawful killing without intent ) or the intention of killing.

Why did she want to go back to him? She must have been besotted with him.

Should have said my daughter has been with her new partner 13 years not 3, just read it back and realised

If psychiatrists can't understand the human mind, we certainly can't. I don't know why she took the hammer (for that reason). I suspect it was part and parcel of the state she was in. I do know that when she arrived she found he was still enjoying himself with yet another woman, and then she snapped.

I really am unsure Iam that people can change their personality, I doubt there will a time when ‘experts’ can really understand the human mind.

sodapop, I don't read anyone here suggesting the killing was a heroic act. Heroism would have been to leave. These days she could report him to the police for coercive control, though victims of domestic abuse don't always receive the response needed.
Anniebach, many people who subject their partner to domestic abuse in any of its forms have one thing in common. They lack empathy, the have a need to control, they manipulate, exploit and alternately humiliate or charm their victim. That may constitute a personality disorder and leads to the usual discussion about personality problems and mental health problems. My view is that m.h. problems include anxiety, depression, psychopathy, schizophrenia for example. I'm on the fence about personality disorders which don't respond to medication in the way m.h. problems are likely to do. People can change their personality types - if they recognise they're damaging those they love, damaging their own life and truly want to. It isn't easy though.

To take a hammer could surely only be with intent to harm ,
so the reconciliation claim doesn’t ring true unless she went hoping for reconciliation and if not ?

I have no idea what emotional abuse can do to the mind . Seems she still loved him and wanted to be with him again, but realised he wasn’t going to change. Everyone has a breaking point.

Is the mind of the abuser unbalanced ? . To want to control
another human being?

It's hard to understand the impact of this type of abuse on the victim. Some people are stronger emotionally than others, I can understand Sally Challoner doing what she did but agree it shouldn't be treated as an heroic act. If this helps others and raises awareness of the issues then that can only be a good thing.
Blondenana I'm sorry to hear your daughter's story, what a terrible and frightening time for you all. I hope she has a happy life with her new partner.

I suppose that's the reason it was murder rather than manslaughter at the first trial, BlueBelle. I'm relieved the Court acknowledged 'new psychiatric evidence' . That should have been obvious at the time though, by 2010 the research into the psychological and psychiatric impact of long term emotional abuse was well known. I worked with children an in the 1980's when we were well aware that children who had suffered significant emotional abuse were likely to have life long psychological or psychiatric difficulties.

I can see where she was coming from I have lived through psychological and physical abuse , control and being made into an unimportant unheard insignificant person
but ....she ‘drew a hammer out of her handbag’ and I can’t understand how that could be manslaughter as surely it was pre medicated ? It took me 12 years to leave but it would never have entered my head to kill the man I loved and I did love him, to release myself
I could understand more if he was taunting her and she picked up a knife in terror or anger but having a hammer in her bag was cool and calculating and that I don’t understand having said that she has served 9 years so done a sentence but I don’t feel it should be applauded and she’s made into a heroine, there are better ways to escape
A very sad story all round

I agree with this decision, unless you have been in a situation like hers it is difficult to understand what made her “break”.

Ilovecheese thank you, i think a lot of people don;t realise how difficult it is to leave abusive men [or women] and unless you have personal experience of abuse ,even emotional abuse .it is easy to say why didn;t they leave
Emotional abuse is worse in some ways because there is nothing to see, no bruises etc,so often no proof

Its ok Callistemon yes i was only meaning that i wished there was an edit button for spelling errors,thanks anyway

Ah!
Don't worry then, blondenana
I am always making mistakes - fat finger rather than an inability to spell!

Blondenanna only wanted an edit button cos she put nor instead of now.

I am glad too, she has served a long sentence. I am sadly not surprised that some people blame the woman in these circumstances, it is not easy to leave. Thank you for sharing your daughter's experience blondenanna
The more people speak out, the more understanding there will be for women in these situations.

It would not be easy to leave a man like that, Urmstongran
She would have been the subject of a type of brainwashing.

The sons may not have known any different when they were young, perhaps she protected them or they thought it was normal behaviour.

I hope Sally finds some peace. She has already paid the price.