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Each self-inflicted death where the victim had endured domestic violence must be treated as a possible murder case, as per calls from advocates who aim to make perpetrators responsible for the devastating impact of their actions.

This move is essential because police and prosecutors are failing to bring perpetrators accountable in cases of suicide after domestic abuse.

“Time and again, there is systemic and structural failure, particularly within the legal system, to scrutinise these fatalities with the seriousness they deserve,” remarked a co-director of a campaign group at a landmark meeting in London recently.

The meeting, organized by a organization leading a “Self-Inflicted Death is Murder” campaign to advocate for change in the legal framework, united relatives who had lost loved ones to self-inflicted death after family violence.

Individual Accounts of Loss

Sharon Holland experienced the death of her child her 23-year-old daughter in spring 2023. Before her death, Chloe had informed her former partner to authorities, submitting a two-hour video interview as proof against him.

Following her passing, the individual was convicted of coercive and controlling behavior and imprisoned for over three years. He was later sentenced for three years and seven months after a another victim stepped up 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 hold offenders to justice; however she then discovered that regulations were already in place, they just weren’t often being used to achieve convictions.

“I concluded it wasn’t a new law I required as existing laws were in place, and after learning how much my child had been let down before her taking her life by the police and numerous services, they had to do their job properly, and practices required reform,” she explained.

“More than four dozen relatives have contacted me and only four of us have had a conviction,” she continued. “I was so shocked to see such a large number who have been battling the police and prosecution service for years and getting no justice for their offspring or brother or sister and didn’t have a voice in case it affected inquiries that weren’t possibly going anywhere.”

Another Tragic Case

Saskia Lightburn Richie’s daughter her 30-year-old daughter died in May 2017, in what she called “the ultimate abusive action” in a campaign of abuse.

“Hannah was energetic, she was loving,” she stated. “She was full of promise, and she was an exceptional, deeply devoted 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 partner,” she explained.

“She was physically beaten, she was mentally tormented, she was controlled and dismantled piece by piece until she was unable to envision a path ahead. The individual who caused this walked free, because we call it self-inflicted death, we conclude the case and we move on.

“But I could not move on,” she remarked, “and I haven’t been able to let go. Honestly, she did not merely take her own life. She was killed. Her death was gradual and deliberately over a two year period, 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 nothing that they were able to take.

“No inquiry was conducted into her death. The domestic homicide review, which I had to struggle to obtain, required five years and changed nothing. A four day inquest determined self-inflicted death, despite substantial proof over a extremely distressing multi-day session of family violence and shortcomings by multiple services.”

The mother told the meeting that for a decade she has “been fighting a establishment that refuses to see what is obvious”.

She said the suicide is homicide campaign was critical “because when an individual takes their own life after they’ve suffered family violence, we have to examine it for what it truly represents, which is homicide.

“We need to apply the laws we currently have properly and it really isn’t happening at the moment, and we need to make perpetrators responsible for driving their victims to death.

“We have the laws. We require determination, we need police to conduct thorough inquiries. We need the prosecution authority to prosecute. We need judges to understand that words and control can cause death equally to hands and weapons.”

Political Response

At a follow-up gathering in the House of Commons, led by a opposition politician, and attended by the government official, the bereaved relatives again shared their experiences.

A parliamentary under-secretary informed the assembly: “These deaths are often dismissed as if they were their decision, they chose to do this, when, in truth, 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 said. “Particularly around homicide or manslaughter, it is piecemeal. It’s not written in statute regardless, it has been shaped with common law practices for generations, and it is no longer fit for purpose, honestly, given the society we currently live in.

“I will not claim that it’s going to be simple to resolve. It is incredibly complex and difficult, especially when you look at the issue of murder, but we acknowledge that it needs to be looked at.”

Legal Authority Comment

A representative for the legal body commented: “Family violence is a heinous offense and our legal officers are actively advised to consider homicide allegations in suicide cases where there is a established background 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 partner they abused, encompassing in cases which are ongoing.

“We are collaborating with law enforcement and other parties to guarantee these types of crimes are clearly recognized – so that we can hold offenders accountable for the full extent of their wrongdoings.”