Grieving mum of Mark Smith backs our campaign

Jun 29 2008 by Phil Doherty, Sunday Sun

Murdered woman’s family back our campaign to jail knife thugs

THE family of a murder victim who died in a frenzied knife attack at the hands of her cop husband have also backed our campaign.

Marie Jones, 36, was stabbed almost 100 times by Graham “Ivor” Jones in the bedroom of their £250,000 home in Ingleby Barwick, near Stockton, Teesside, in 2004.

Jones was sentenced to eight years but for Marie’s parents Ron and June Phillips the pain never goes away.

Ron, of Middlesbrough, said: “I don’t want another family to have to suffer like we have.This is why I’m backing this campaign because I believe no one should be carrying weapons.

“We have to have sentences that fit the crime and that includes carrying offensive weapons. We are becoming a society where the kids won’t even consider going outside to play because of the fear.

“The distress that knife crime is causing must be addressed. Those that survive attacks are often scarred or maimed for life but they don’t make the main headlines.

“All that would be needed is for a few of those caught carrying knives to be sent down to prison and the message would soon get out.”

Teesside Crown Court heard that Jones, a Cleveland police officer at the time of the crime, knifed Marie 96 times after she allegedly told him she was seeing another man and their marriage was over.

He was sentenced to eight years for manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility but could shortly be freed on parole after serving four years.