'We were brought together by our murdered girls – now we're changing the law'

Ellie and Griffiths had been classmates for several years, sharing a long history at school. Just a few months prior, Griffiths had joined the Gould family in celebrating Ellie’s 17th birthday. However, their relationship had taken a sudden turn when, the day before the tragic event, Ellie ended their three-month involvement.

On the morning of the murder, Griffiths’s mother gave him a lift to school. Shortly after arriving, he sent emails to his teachers claiming he was unwell, then boarded a bus home. Once back, he concealed himself in his wardrobe until his mother left the house. Despite being only a learner driver, he took the family car without permission and drove to Ellie’s residence.

Upon arrival, Griffiths strangled Ellie before stabbing her multiple times in the neck with a kitchen knife, with her hand still clutching the knife’s handle. Remarkably, Ellie had completed a school assignment shortly before her death, exploring whether child murderers should face punishment. Carole, Ellie’s mother, reflected on this chilling coincidence: “She got the results for that on the Monday and on the Friday she was murdered herself.” She also expressed a belief that her daughter’s work carried a deeper message, saying, “To me there is some message – Mum, you had to do that to save other young girls and women – and she’d be incredibly proud we did it.”

Griffiths received a prison sentence of 12-and-a-half years for murdering Ellie. Carole voiced her frustration with the legal system, highlighting a perceived injustice: “It just didn’t seem right that a person who bought a knife and murdered a stranger on the street faced a 25-year starting point, whereas someone who murdered a partner or ex-partner at home with a kitchen knife faces a 15-year starting point. How is that justice?” At that time in 2019, Carole had not yet spoken publicly or engaged with politicians, but that changed soon after. When Griffiths began his sentence, BBC Points West aired a 30-minute programme celebrating Ellie’s life, with Carole at the forefront. Watching the broadcast from her home in Frome, Somerset, was Julie, whose 24-year-old daughter, Poppy Devey Waterhouse, had been murdered only five months before Ellie

Read the full article from The BBC here: Read More