TEESDALE’S MP, Dehenna Davison, has officially launches an All-Party Parliamentary Group to investigate one punch assaults after the tragic loss of her father.
The 27-year-old last week kicked off the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for One-Punch Assaults, aiming to examine sentencing and the impact on surviving victims and the families of those killed.
Marking 14 years since the death of Ms Davison’s father, who was killed after a life changing punch was thrown, the MP chaired an inaugural meeting, launching plans for an investigation into one punch assaults and the sentencing around them.
The APPG will seek to understand why so many feel a deep sense of injustice after sentencing, and, ultimately, to change the law to fix that.
Ms Davison said: “I am really excited to be officially launching the APPG. We will be inviting in victims who have life-changing injuries, the families of victims who are no longer with us, perpetrators, judges, lawyers of both sides, investigating police officers and anyone else with a really relevant interest in this.
“Every time I have spoken to victims or the families of victims there is a sense of burning injustice and I really want to get to the bottom of that.
“The work of the APPG will have such a huge impact on the lives of many families.
“I am grateful to the members from across the House who joined me to launch the APPG and support my plans to improve the lives of victims’ families across the UK.”
The Conservative MP, who took the Bishop Auckland seat in 2019 after almost 90 years of being held by the Labour party, has spoken previously in Parliament about her father’s death, using her platform to thank the medical staff who “fought valiantly” to save her dad and raise awareness of the real impacts of violence. Newly elected officer of the APPG, Emma Lewell-Buck MP said: “I was pleased to join my constituent Maxine Thompson Curl founder of One Punch North-East and her husband, Anthony Curl, at the inaugural meeting of the APPG for One Punch Assaults. I am looking forward to working with Maxine, Tony and others pushing for change and raising awareness of the devastating harm that can come from one punch attacks.”
While there are no official figures available on one-punch deaths, the campaign group One Punch Can Kill has recorded more than 80 fatalities since 2007.
Anthony Curl, founder of One Punch North East said: “We have been working hard for a number of years to work with parliament but with
Dehenna having a person connection we believe we
will start to make some headway.”
Contact Dehenna.davison.
mp@parliament.uk
