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Each self-inflicted death in which the victim had endured abuse at home should be considered a possible murder case, as per calls from campaigners who aim to hold abusers responsible for the catastrophic impact of their behavior.

This move is necessary because police and prosecutors are failing to hold offenders accountable in instances of self-inflicted death after domestic abuse.

“In case after case, there is widespread breakdown, particularly within the legal system, to scrutinise these fatalities with the gravity they deserve,” remarked a co-director of a advocacy organization at a significant meeting in London earlier this week.

The meeting, organized by a group leading a “Suicide is Homicide” campaign to fight for reform in the legal framework, united families who had suffered bereavement to self-inflicted death following family violence.

Personal Stories of Loss

Sharon Holland experienced the death of her child Chloe Holland in spring 2023. Before her death, the young woman had reported her former partner to police, providing a two-hour video interview as evidence about his conduct.

Following her passing, the perpetrator was found guilty of coercive and controlling behavior and jailed for 41 months. He was later sentenced for three years and seven months after a another victim came forward to disclose that she had been in a violent and abusive relationship with him.

In the wake of her loss, the parent chose to advocate for a legal change to bring perpetrators accountable; however she then discovered that laws were existing, they just were rarely applied to secure prosecutions.

“I decided it wasn’t a fresh legislation I required as current statutes were already there, and after learning how much my child had been let down before her taking her life by the authorities and numerous services, they needed to fulfill their duties, and things needed to change,” she explained.

“More than four dozen relatives have found me and only four of us have had a guilty verdict,” she continued. “I was astonished to see so many families who have been fighting the police and prosecution service for years and getting no justice for their child or brother or sister and could not speak out in case it affected inquiries that weren’t possibly going anywhere.”

Further Heartbreaking Account

Saskia Lightburn Richie’s daughter Hannah passed away in spring 2017, in what she called “the ultimate abusive action” in a campaign of abuse.

“Hannah was energetic, she was caring,” she said. “She was full of promise, and she was an exceptional, really loving mum to her kids, and she took her own life after 24 months in a partnership where she was methodically broken down by her companion,” she explained.

“She endured physical assaults, she was psychologically tortured, she was dominated and dismantled piece by piece until she was unable to envision a path ahead. The individual who did this to her went unpunished, because we call it suicide, we conclude the case and we move on.

“Yet I was unable to continue,” she remarked, “and I haven’t been able to move on. In truth, she didn’t just die by suicide. She was killed. Her death was gradual and deliberately over a 24-month span, and when I went to the police, when I begged them to investigate what he had done to her, I was informed that there was no action that they could do.

“No inquiry was conducted into her passing. The domestic homicide review, which I had to fight for, required five years and had no impact. A four day inquest found self-inflicted death, despite substantial proof over a very traumatic multi-day session of family violence and failings by various agencies.”

The parent informed the gathering that for eight years she has “struggled against a establishment that ignores what is obvious”.

She emphasized the suicide is homicide movement was critical “since when an individual dies by suicide after they’ve endured family violence, we have to investigate it for what it really is, which is homicide.

“We must apply the laws we currently have properly and it really isn’t happening at the present, and we need to hold abusers accountable for pushing their targets to suicide.

“We have the laws. We need the will, we need law enforcement to conduct thorough inquiries. We need the Crown Prosecution Service to prosecute. We need judges to understand that verbal abuse and manipulation can cause death just as much as hands and weapons.”

Political Response

At a second meeting in the Parliament, chaired by a Labour MP, and attended by the safeguarding minister, the grieving families again told their stories.

A parliamentary under-secretary told the meeting: “Such fatalities are often dismissed as if they were their own choice, they opted for this, when, reality, these were the culmination of in fact, somebody else’s violence, and these aren’t isolated stories.”

“Our law is broken, we are aware,” she stated. “Especially around homicide or manslaughter, it is fragmented. It lacks statutory basis anyway, it has been shaped with common law practices for centuries, and it is no longer fit for purpose, honestly, given the society we inhabit today.

“I will not claim that it’s going to be easy to resolve. It is extremely complicated and challenging, particularly when you look at the matter of murder, but we acknowledge that it needs to be looked at.”

Prosecution Service Statement

A representative for the prosecution service said: “Domestic abuse is a terrible crime and our prosecutors are actively advised to consider murder and manslaughter charges in self-inflicted death instances where there is a established background of family violence or other manipulative conduct.

“We have previously charged a number of defendants for causing the death of a partner they abused, encompassing in cases which are currently active.

“We are collaborating with police and other stakeholders to ensure these types of crimes are well-understood – so that we can bring perpetrators to justice for the full extent of their crimes.”