A FRESH petition has been launched calling for a change in the law regarding parental responsibility following the murder of a Deeside mum.

On April 6, Russell Marsh, from Shotton, was found guilty of murdering his estranged wife, Jade Ward.

Following a two-and-a-half-week trial, the jury returned a unanimous verdict that Marsh had murdered the 27-year-old mum-of-four at her home on Chevrons Road on the night of August 25, 2021 - just days after they had separated.

Read more: Jade Ward's parents speak about impact of murder on her family

Now, following Marsh's conviction, a petition has been launched calling for the automatic suspension of parental responsibility (PR) rights of any parent found guilty of murdering the other parent.

The petition seeks to provide a mechanism within existing legislation whereupon a person with parental responsibility is found guilty of murdering the other parent with PR, has their PR automatically suspended throughout the duration of the term of imprisonment.

Set up by Edwin Duggan, a close friend of Jade's, the petition has so far collected over 360 signatures in the space of 24 hours (correct at time of writing).

It needs the standard 10,000 signatures in order to receive a response from the UK Government and has until October to achieve this.

The Leader:

PIC: Jade Ward.

Edwin initially launched a petition last year calling on the indefinite removal of parental responsibility but he has now changed the wording. The original petition collected more than 5,000 signatures but expired before Marsh's conviction date.

Edwin said: "The initial campaign was started in September 2021 a few weeks after the death of Jade. Government petitions are restricted to a maximum six-month period, so this did pose a problem when it was found that the case against her husband was to be held after this point would be past the cutoff date.

"The initial campaign was a request to the government to automatically remove the PR rights of anyone convicted of murdering the other parent with PR. With hindsight, even if the target had been achieved, this attempt may have still proved difficult to pass through parliament as someone who possesses PR has legislation heavily stacked in their favour due to such Acts as the Human Rights Act 1998. In a nut shell, it is virtually impossible to remove this element from an individual completely.

"Upon the conviction of Marsh, Jade's mother (Karen Robinson) asked me to continue with the campaign to invoke “Jades Law”. I have done as she has asked, however, after some research I have decided to change the detail of the petition slightly in order to give it a better chance of success.

"I knew Jade from a very young age and am a close friend of the family. I hope we can do her justice through this new petition."

To sign the petition, click here.