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Every suicide in which the victim had experienced abuse at home must be considered a possible murder case, as per calls from advocates who aim to make perpetrators accountable for the devastating impact of their behavior.

This move is essential because police and prosecutors are not doing enough to bring perpetrators to justice in instances of self-inflicted death following domestic abuse.

“Time and again, there is systemic and structural failure, especially within the criminal justice system, to scrutinise these deaths with the seriousness they deserve,” stated a leader of a campaign group during a landmark gathering in Westminster recently.

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

Personal Stories of Loss

Sharon Holland experienced the death of her child Chloe Holland in March 2023. Prior to her passing, the young woman had reported her former partner to authorities, providing a two-hour video interview as evidence against him.

Following her passing, the individual was convicted of manipulative and domineering conduct and imprisoned for 41 months. He was later sentenced for an additional term after a second woman stepped up to disclose that she had been in a violent and abusive relationship with him.

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

“I concluded it wasn’t a new law I needed as existing laws were in place, and after finding out how much my child had been let down before her taking her life by the police and numerous services, they had to fulfill their duties, and practices needed to change,” she said.

“Over 47 families have contacted me and only four of us have had a guilty verdict,” she added. “I was astonished to see so many families who have been battling the authorities and prosecution service for years and receiving no resolution for their offspring or brother or sister and could not speak out in case it impacted inquiries that were not progressing.”

Another Tragic Case

Saskia Lightburn Richie’s child Hannah died in spring 2017, in what she described as “the final act of violence” in a prolonged pattern of mistreatment.

“She was vibrant, she was loving,” she stated. “She had great potential, and she was an exceptional, really loving mother to her two children, and she died by suicide after 24 months in a partnership where she was systematically destroyed by her companion,” she explained.

“She was physically beaten, she was psychologically tortured, she was controlled and dismantled gradually until she was unable to envision a path ahead. The individual who caused this walked free, because we label it suicide, we conclude the case and we move on.

“But I could not move on,” she said, “and I haven’t been able to move on. In truth, Hannah didn’t just die by suicide. She was killed. She was killed slowly and deliberately over a two year period, and when I went to the police, when I pleaded with them to investigate what he had done to her, I was told that there was nothing that they were able to take.

“There was no investigation into her death. The domestic homicide review, which I had to struggle to obtain, required five years and changed nothing. A lengthy coroner’s hearing determined death by suicide, despite substantial proof over a very traumatic four day period of domestic abuse and shortcomings by various agencies.”

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

She emphasized the suicide is homicide campaign was critical “because when someone dies by suicide after they’ve suffered domestic abuse, we have to investigate it for what it really is, which is homicide.

“We must use the legislation we already possess effectively and it really isn’t happening at the moment, and we need to hold abusers accountable for driving their victims to death.

“We have the laws. We need the will, we need police to conduct thorough inquiries. We need the prosecution authority to take legal action. We need the judiciary to recognize that words and control can cause death just as much as physical force and arms.”

Political Response

At a second meeting in the Parliament, led by a opposition politician, and attended by the safeguarding minister, the grieving families again shared their experiences.

A parliamentary under-secretary told the meeting: “Such fatalities are often dismissed as if they were their own choice, they chose to do this, when, in truth, these were the culmination of actually, another person’s abuse, and these aren’t rare incidents.”

“The legal system is flawed, we are aware,” she said. “Particularly around murder or manslaughter, it is piecemeal. It’s not written in statute anyway, it has been developed with traditional legal customs for centuries, and it is outdated, honestly, given the society we inhabit today.

“I’m not going to pretend that it’s going to be simple to fix. It is incredibly complex and difficult, especially when you look at the matter of murder, but we recognize that it requires examination.”

Prosecution Service Statement

A representative for the prosecution service said: “Domestic abuse is a heinous offense and our prosecutors are regularly instructed to consider murder and manslaughter charges in self-inflicted death instances where there is a established background of family violence or other controlling or coercive behavior.

“We have in the past prosecuted a several individuals for causing the death of a companion they abused, encompassing in proceedings which are ongoing.

“We are also working with police and other parties to ensure these kinds of offences are well-understood – so that we can bring perpetrators accountable for the full extent of their crimes.”