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Every suicide where the victim had endured abuse at home should be treated as a possible murder case, as per demands from advocates who aim to make perpetrators responsible for the catastrophic impact of their actions.

This move is necessary because law enforcement are not doing enough to bring perpetrators accountable in instances of self-inflicted death following domestic abuse.

“Time and again, there is systemic and structural failure, particularly within the criminal justice system, to examine these fatalities with the gravity they warrant,” remarked a leader of a advocacy organization at a landmark meeting in London earlier this week.

The meeting, arranged by a organization running a “Suicide is Homicide” campaign to fight for change in the legal framework, united relatives who had suffered bereavement to suicide following family violence.

Personal Stories of Loss

Sharon Holland experienced the death of her child Chloe Holland in spring 2023. Prior to her passing, Chloe had informed her ex-boyfriend to authorities, providing a lengthy recorded statement as proof against him.

After her death, the individual was convicted of manipulative and domineering conduct and jailed for over three years. He was later sentenced for three years and seven months after a another victim came forward to disclose that she had been in a harmful partnership 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 regulations were existing, they just weren’t often being used to secure prosecutions.

“I decided it was not a fresh legislation I needed as existing laws were already there, and after learning how much my child had been failed before her death by the authorities and numerous services, they needed to fulfill their duties, and practices required reform,” she said.

“Over 47 families have found me and just a handful of us have had a guilty verdict,” she added. “I was astonished to see such a large number who have been battling the authorities and CPS for a long time and getting no justice for their child or sibling and didn’t have a voice in case it impacted inquiries that weren’t possibly going anywhere.”

Further Heartbreaking Account

Saskia Lightburn Richie’s child her 30-year-old daughter passed away in May 2017, in what she described as “the final act of violence” in a prolonged pattern of mistreatment.

“Hannah was vibrant, she was caring,” she said. “She had great potential, and she was an amazing, deeply devoted mum to her two children, and she died by suicide after two years in a partnership where she was methodically broken down by her companion,” she said.

“She endured physical assaults, she was psychologically tortured, she was dominated and broken down gradually 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 said, “and I haven’t been able to let go. In truth, she didn’t just die by suicide. She was murdered. She was killed slowly and deliberately over a 24-month span, 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 no action that they were able to take.

“No inquiry was conducted into her passing. The domestic homicide review, which I had to fight for, took five years and had no impact. A lengthy coroner’s hearing found self-inflicted death, despite huge evidence 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 “struggled against a establishment that ignores what is obvious”.

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

“We must apply the laws we already possess effectively and it is not occurring at the present, and we need to make perpetrators responsible for driving their victims to death.

“The statutes exist. We require determination, we need law enforcement to conduct thorough inquiries. We need the Crown Prosecution Service to take legal action. We need the judiciary to understand that words and control can kill just as much as hands and weapons.”

Political Response

At a follow-up gathering in the Parliament, chaired by a Labour MP, and attended by the safeguarding minister, the bereaved relatives again told their stories.

A junior minister told the meeting: “These deaths are often dismissed as if they were their decision, they chose to do this, when, in truth, these were the result of actually, another person’s abuse, and these are not rare incidents.”

“Our law is broken, we are aware,” she said. “Particularly around murder or unlawful killing, it is fragmented. It lacks statutory basis anyway, it has been developed with traditional legal customs for centuries, and it is outdated, honestly, it’s the world we inhabit today.

“I will not claim that it’s going to be easy to fix. It is incredibly complex and challenging, especially when you consider the issue of homicide, but we acknowledge that it requires examination.”

Legal Authority Comment

A representative for the legal body said: “Family violence is a terrible offense and our prosecutors are regularly instructed to evaluate homicide allegations 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 leading to the fatality of a companion they mistreated, including in proceedings which are ongoing.

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