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Each self-inflicted death in which the victim had experienced abuse at home should be treated as a potential murder case, as per calls from advocates who aim to make perpetrators responsible for the catastrophic impact of their actions.

This move is essential because law enforcement are not doing enough to bring perpetrators to justice in cases of self-inflicted death following domestic abuse.

“In case after case, there is widespread breakdown, especially within the criminal justice system, to examine these deaths with the seriousness they deserve,” remarked a co-director of a campaign group at a significant gathering in Westminster recently.

The assembly, organized by a organization leading a “Self-Inflicted Death is Murder” initiative to fight for change in the criminal justice system, united relatives who had suffered bereavement to self-inflicted death after family violence.

Personal Stories of Tragedy

Sharon Holland lost her daughter Chloe Holland in March 2023. Prior to her passing, the young woman had reported her ex-boyfriend to police, providing a two-hour video interview as evidence against him.

After her death, the individual was convicted of manipulative and domineering conduct and imprisoned for 41 months. He was later jailed for three years and seven months after a second woman stepped up to report that she had been in a violent and abusive relationship with him.

After Chloe’s death, the parent chose to advocate for a legal change to bring perpetrators to justice; however she then discovered that laws were existing, they just weren’t often being used to achieve convictions.

“I decided it wasn’t a fresh legislation I needed as current statutes were already there, and after learning how much my daughter had been let down previous to her taking her life by the police and numerous services, they needed to do their job properly, and things needed to change,” she said.

“Over 47 families have contacted me and just a handful of us have had a guilty verdict,” she continued. “I was so shocked to see such a large number who have been fighting the police and prosecution service for a long time and getting no justice for their child or sibling and could not speak out in case it impacted inquiries that weren’t possibly going anywhere.”

Further Heartbreaking Account

Saskia Lightburn Richie’s daughter her 30-year-old daughter died in May 2017, in what she described as “the final act of violence” in a campaign of abuse.

“She was energetic, she was loving,” she stated. “She had great potential, and she was an exceptional, really loving mother to her two children, and she took her own life after two years in a partnership where she was methodically broken down by her companion,” she explained.

“She was physically beaten, she was psychologically tortured, she was controlled and broken down piece by piece until she was unable to envision a path ahead. The man who caused this walked free, because we call it suicide, we conclude the case and we proceed.

“Yet I was unable to continue,” she remarked, “and I have not managed to let go. In truth, Hannah did not merely take her own life. She was murdered. Her death was gradual and intentionally over a two year period, and when I went to the police, when I begged them to look into what he had inflicted upon her, I was told that there was no action that they could do.

“No inquiry was conducted into her death. The domestic violence fatality analysis, which I had to fight for, required five years and had no impact. A four day inquest found death by suicide, despite huge evidence over a extremely distressing multi-day session of domestic abuse and failings by various agencies.”

The parent informed the gathering that for eight years she has “been fighting a system that refuses to see what is obvious”.

She said the suicide is homicide campaign was vital “because when an individual dies by suicide after they’ve suffered family violence, we have to investigate it for what it truly represents, which is murder.

“We need to apply the laws we currently have properly and it is not occurring at the moment, and we need to hold abusers accountable for driving their victims to death.

“The statutes exist. We need the will, we need law enforcement to conduct thorough inquiries. We need the prosecution authority to prosecute. We need judges to recognize that verbal abuse and manipulation can cause death just as much as physical force and arms.”

Government Reaction

At a second meeting in the Parliament, chaired by a Labour MP, and including the safeguarding minister, the bereaved relatives again told their stories.

A junior minister told the meeting: “These deaths are often written off as if they were their own choice, they opted for this, when, reality, these were the result of in fact, another person’s abuse, and these aren’t rare incidents.”

“The legal system is flawed, we know that,” she said. “Especially around homicide or unlawful killing, it is piecemeal. It lacks statutory basis anyway, it has been developed with traditional legal customs for generations, and it is no longer fit for purpose, quite frankly, given the society we currently live in.

“I’m not going to pretend that it’s going to be simple to fix. It is extremely complicated and challenging, especially when you consider the issue of murder, but we recognize that it needs to be looked at.”

Legal Authority Comment

A representative for the prosecution service said: “Family violence is a heinous crime and our prosecutors are regularly instructed to evaluate homicide allegations in self-inflicted death instances where there is a known context of domestic abuse or other controlling or coercive behavior.

“We have in the past prosecuted a number of defendants for causing the death of a companion they mistreated, encompassing in proceedings which are currently active.

“We are collaborating with law enforcement and other parties to ensure these types of crimes are well-understood – so that we can hold offenders accountable for the complete scope of their crimes.”