Campaign group We Can't Consent To This has called for law changes in the UK

Says 58 women have died at hands of men who claim they consented to violence

It claims 45 per cent of those defendants in these cases were treated leniently

John Broadhurst was jailed for less than four years for S&M death of girlfriend

Violent men are getting away with murdering women by using the so-called 50 Shades of Grey defence and blaming their deaths on rough sex, campaigners have claimed.

Campaign group We Can't Consent To This says that there has been at least 58 deaths of women in Britain in which the alleged killers said their victims had consented to the violence that led to their deaths.

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As a result, it says 45 per cent of defendants in these cases were given a less serious charge or sentence, and in some cases faced no legal action whatsoever.

The number of men to use the defence has increased tenfold since 2000, the group added.

The defence is named after the erotic film and book series entitled 50 Shades of Grey, in which a student is introduced to sadomasochism by an older businessman.

John Broadhurst

Natalie Connolly

Last year, the relatives of a woman killed by her property tycoon boyfriend in an S&M sex session slammed the judge as he was jailed for three years and eight months.

John Broadhurst, 40, left Natalie Connolly, 26, in a pool of blood at the bottom of a staircase of their £600,000 home after 'totally losing it'.

He called emergency services hours later and told the operator his partner was 'dead as a doughnut', his trial at Birmingham Crown Court was told.

The multi-millionaire businessman was initially charged with murder but he claimed he had only hurt her 'within the boundaries of her masochistic desires'.

The mother-of-one - who called Broadhurst 'The Boss' - was found with her black skirt rolled up to her waist at the property in Kinver, West Midlands.

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Paramedics found her in a pool of blood with over 40 injuries including multiple head wounds and injuries to her buttocks and breasts.

Among her injuries was a blow-out fracture to her left eye, said by the prosecution to be consistent with 'punch or toe-poke kicks', as well as facial bruising.

Part way through his trial, Broadhurst pleaded guilty to manslaughter on the basis of gross negligence and he was cleared of murder and grievous bodily harm.

Fiona Mackenzie, founder of We Can't Consent To This, said: 'This is a really big issue in assaults as well — and in some cases they are getting dismissed as non-crimes.

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'I am hopeful a clarification of the law will mean that these women and their families are able to get justice.'