A vile murderer has been allowed to dictate the lives of his victim's four children after killing their mum.
Jade Ward was brutally stabbed and strangled by her former husband while their kids slept in the next room.
Russell Marsh, 29, sneaked into the mum's home to attack her before hiding her body under clothes.
A court heard on August 26 last year Marsh explained he needed to leave work because of an attempted suicide by his brother.
WalesOnline reports he was instead tracked by CCTV, ANPR cameras, and phone masts which showed he had headed to his former family home.
Once there, Marsh stabbed and strangled his former partner before telling police he had "done something horrible".
He was jailed for life with a minimum of 25 years in April, and now Jade's brave family are trying to change the law so other families don't have to go through the same pain.
It would prevent Marsh and killers like him from having control over their children's lives.
Ms Ward's family want to make "Jade's Law" a reality to avoid the added pain of being faced with the killer time after time.
The family, who are looking after Jade's four boys, realised Marsh would still have a say in how the children were brought up.
Jade's mum Karen Robinson said that Marsh started to "cause ripples" after being sentenced and wanted see the boys' school reports.
Social workers also said if they wanted to take the children on holiday, Marsh would have to be consulted first.
"It is all about control for him," says Karen.
"He had lost control of Jade so he did what he did, and now he has still got control because he is controlling the boys and controlling us and it is horrific.
"He is in prison, but his presence is still looming. Any rights should have been taken away from him the moment he took away their mother.
"It is Jade's birthday next Wednesday, her children cannot give her birthday kisses. They have now all had birthdays without her, no cards from their mother, no birthday hugs, no kisses because of their vile father.
"You cannot put into words the added worry and the stress because of him. It means we still can't move on.
"As Jade's mother, I know I will never be able to move on, my life has completely changed with her. But that evil, vile man, that freak is still there holding us back from being able to grieve properly."
Karen cannot bear to say the "vile monster's" name and is still reeling from her daughter's murder, have to listen to "things a mother should never have to hear" during the trial, while Marsh showed no remorse for what he did.
She said: "Jade was the most caring, loving and supportive person you could meet. Not just with family, with everyone.
"She made a massive impact on everyone who met her, and I have never met a person who had a bad word to say about her.
"She worked in the local Co-op, and when she died one of the customers, who had only met her a few times, stayed up all night making a bench for her memory garden. That is the sort of impact she had on people."
Her mum describes how life had been looking good for Jade in the days before her murder, having finally managed to leave her controlling husband.
Jade and Marsh had separated three times but split for good in the summer of 2021 following a nine-year relationship.
"No parent should have to hear what we heard during the trial," says Karen.
"After 10 years she finally had her life back, but he looked at her and thought 'how dare you be happy, how dare you move on'.
"He sneaked into the house and mutilated and stabbed her while her boys were in the next room, and then he stayed in the house with her dead body for four hours. It is just so wrong."
Within days of launching Jade's Law a petition had been signed thousands of times, which has now has received 120,262 signatures.
The government has responded, admitting the current rules are too "onerous".
And last week, the family and supporters travelled to London to meet MPs to discuss the next move.
Eddie, who has known Jade's family for 35 years, says: "When the petition was first published we had 100,000 signatures in 10 days.
"We were astounded that it took off so quickly, but it shows what an important issue it is and how many families across the UK are affected by issues like this.
"So many people also didn't realise that prisoners who have murdered their partners still have rights over the children.
"Marsh didn't think about the welfare of his children when he murdered their mother. I have seen the pain this family have gone through, and it is just so, so sad. Some good has to come out of it somehow."
