Men who kill their lovers are “getting away with murder” by claiming they died by accident during sex games, according to MPs and campaigners who are calling for a change in the law.

In at least 58 killings of women in the UK those responsible have stated in their defence that their victims consented to the extreme violence which led to their deaths.

In 45 per cent of those cases the claim has resulted in a lesser charge, a lesser sentence or no action at all from the authorities at all, research by campaign group We Can’t Consent To This has found.

The number of men using what has been dubbed the “50 shades of Grey Defence” has increased tenfold since 2000 and it was claimed 20 times in 2017 alone.

The cases include that of Natalie Connolly, whose millionaire boyfriends John Broadhurst was jailed for three years and eight months after the Crown Prosecution Service accepted his plea to a lesser charge of manslaughter by gross negligence.