Who was Jill Saward? Ealing vicarage rape victim who waived anonymity – here’s what we know
Jill Saward bravely campaigned for victim support and tighter laws after her horrific ordeal
JILL Saward, who was just 21 when she was brutally raped in her father's vicarage during a burglary, has died aged 51.
The horrifying attack in 1986 made national news and became known as the Ealing Vicarage rape.
Public outcry over the lenient sentences given to her attackers, and Jill's brave decision to speak out, led to tougher sentencing in sexual assault cases.
Who was Jill Saward?
In 1986, Jill was raped after a gang of burglars broke into Ealing Vicarage where she lived.
After the two men who raped her were given lesser sentences than the burglar who had not taken part in the attack, there was a public outcry.
Brave Jill became the first sexual assault victim in the UK to waive her anonymity so she could speak out about the attack and campaign for tougher laws.
In 1990, she published her memoir, Rape: My Story.
The reports that she suffered a stroke after news broke of her death aged 51.
Jill, who was also known by her married name Drake, had three sons and lived with husband Gavin in Hednesford, Staffordshire.
What happened in the Ealing Vicarage attack?
A gang of four burglars broke into Ealing Vicarage and attacked Jill and her family at lunchtime on March 6 1986.
Her father, Michael - the vicar of Ealing - and her boyfriend David Kerr were beaten with cricket bats by the men, who demanded money and jewellery and left them both with fractured skulls.
The churchman had answered the doorbell when it rang, only to be confronted by the knife-wielding intruders.
Two of the men then dragged Jill upstairs to a bedroom, where she was repeatedly raped.
What sentences were the Ealing Vicarage burglars given?
Ringleader Robert Horscroft, then 34, who did not take part in the rape, was sentenced to 14 years in jail for his part in the burglary.
Martin McCall, then 22, was given five years for rape and a further five for burglary, while Christopher Byrne, who was also 22, was given three years for his part in the sexual assault and five for the burglary.
The public backlash against the media coverage and subsequent sentencing helped bring about changes to the way sexual assault cases were viewed.
There was uproar at how one of the defendants was given a longer sentence for the burglary than the attack.
MPs including then-Labour leader Neil Kinnock criticised the prison terms handed down.
He said during a Commons debate in 1987: "While it is necessary for judges to remain detached in the name of the law, sometimes they show an insensitivity to the suffering of victims which is difficult to comprehend."
Prime minister Margaret Thatcher also expressed "deep concern" about the case.
What did the judge say to Jill Saward at the sentencing of her attackers?
At the end of the trial of her rapists, Old Bailey judge Mr Justice Leonard said her trauma "had not been so great", sparking outrage.
He was censured for the remark and apologised for it later in his life.
"That reflected how little understanding there was," she later said.
"I'd been suicidal three times, I'd had post-traumatic stress disorder, which wasn't really recognised then."
How did the laws change after the Ealing Vicarage rape?
Jill became the first rape victim in the UK to waive her anonymity when she published her book in 1990.
The first change which came after the shocking case was tighter restrictions on press coverage to protect anonymity for victims.
At the time, the ban on identifying a sexual assault victim only applied after the defendant was charged.
Pictures of Jill in which she could be identified appeared in the tabloids after the attack, which she branded "highly insensitive and offensive".
In 1988 the law was changed to allow for the right to appeal against lenient sentences, and closing the loophole which allowed media identification of a rape victim before a defendant was charged.
In 1994, Jill set up a help group for victims and their families, and became a counsellor, providing training to police forces across the UK.
New guidelines on the sentencing of sex offenders were published in 2013 which put more weight on the impact on the victim - something Jill had long campaigned for.
Speaking to the BBC, she said: "So long we've felt left out of the system or surplus to requirement, so to actually see victims' needs and what's happened to victims being put at the forefront of this is really, really good."
Among the causes she successfully campaigned for was stopping accused rapists from being allowed to cross-examine victims while representing themselves in court.
She also said it was important the she was able to forgive her attackers.
In 1998, she came face to face with a member of the gang who devastated her life - but did not rape her - and told him: "You don't need to say sorry."
In July 2008 she stood for election to Parliament against then shadow home secretary David Davis.
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