Men who kill their wives or partners in a jealous rage after discovering they have been unfaithful will receive tougher sentences under new guidelines announced yesterday. In contrast, women who kill their violent husbands or lovers will be treated more leniently, according to sentencing guidance drafted by the lord chief justice, Lord Phillips.

The guidelines cover killers convicted not of murder but of the lesser offence of manslaughter, on the grounds that they were provoked and lost self-control.