[1] At her trial in 1990, Sara Thornton pleaded guilty to manslaughter due to reasons of diminished responsibility, claiming that she had stabbed Malcolm accidentally following a row as he lay drunk on the sofa.
[2] A representative from Alcoholics Anonymous saw Malcolm punch his wife on one occasion, while a neighbour spoke of how Sara Thornton had been beaten "black and blue" to the point where she became unconscious and required hospital treatment.
The group, founded by Harriet Wistrich and Julie Bindel, began life as the "Free Sara Thornton campaign".
[1] Psychiatrists successfully argued that Thornton suffered from dissociation, a phenomenon where a person can feel disconnected from their surroundings and from their emotional and physical experiences.
[2] Jennifer Nadel's non-fiction book about the case, Sara Thornton: The Story of a Woman Who Killed (1993), highlighted the ways in which the legal system discriminates against victims of domestic violence.
[5][better source needed] Nadel's book was subsequently adapted into the film, Killing Me Softly (1996), which aired on BBC1 within six weeks of Thornton's release in July 1996.
[6] The drama, written by Rebecca Frayn and starring Maggie O'Neill and Peter Howitt, appeared under the Screen One strand.