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Each self-inflicted death where the victim had endured abuse at home must be treated as a potential homicide, as per demands from advocates who aim to make perpetrators accountable for the catastrophic consequences of their behavior.

This step is necessary because police and prosecutors are not doing enough to hold offenders accountable in instances of self-inflicted death following domestic abuse.

“In case after case, there is widespread breakdown, particularly within the criminal justice system, to examine these deaths with the gravity they warrant,” stated a co-director of a campaign group at a significant meeting in London recently.

The meeting, arranged by a organization running a “Suicide is Homicide” campaign to advocate for reform in the criminal justice system, brought together families who had suffered bereavement to suicide following family violence.

Personal Stories of Tragedy

Sharon Holland lost her daughter Chloe Holland in spring 2023. Prior to her passing, Chloe had informed her former partner to authorities, submitting a lengthy recorded statement as proof about his conduct.

After her death, the individual was convicted of manipulative and domineering conduct and imprisoned for 41 months. He was later sentenced for an additional term 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 mother chose to advocate for a legal change to bring perpetrators to justice; yet she then realized that laws were already in place, they just weren’t often being used to secure prosecutions.

“I concluded it was not a new law I needed as current statutes were already there, and after finding out how much my daughter had been let down previous to her death by the authorities and many other agencies, they needed to fulfill their duties, and practices needed to change,” she explained.

“More than four dozen relatives have found me and only four of us have had a guilty verdict,” she added. “I was so shocked to see so many families who have been battling 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 investigations that weren’t possibly going anywhere.”

Another Tragic Case

Saskia Lightburn Richie’s child Hannah passed away in spring 2017, in what she described as “the ultimate abusive action” in a prolonged pattern of mistreatment.

“Hannah was energetic, she was loving,” she said. “She had great potential, and she was an amazing, deeply devoted mum to her kids, and she died by suicide after 24 months in a partnership where she was methodically broken down by her partner,” she explained.

“She endured physical assaults, she was mentally tormented, she was controlled and broken down piece by piece until she was unable to envision a way forward. The individual who did this to her walked free, because we label it suicide, we conclude the case and we move on.

“But I could not move on,” she remarked, “and I haven’t been able to move on. In truth, Hannah 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 look into what he had inflicted upon her, I was informed 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 struggle to obtain, required five years and had no impact. A four day inquest found death by suicide, notwithstanding huge evidence over a extremely distressing four day period of family violence and shortcomings by various agencies.”

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

She said the self-inflicted death is murder movement was vital “since when an individual dies by suicide after they’ve endured domestic abuse, we have to examine it for what it truly represents, which is homicide.

“We must apply the laws we already possess effectively 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 Crown Prosecution Service to take legal action. We need judges to recognize that verbal abuse and manipulation can cause death just as much as physical force and arms.”

Political Response

At a second meeting in the House of Commons, chaired by a Labour MP, and including the safeguarding minister, the grieving families again shared their experiences.

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

“Our law is broken, we are aware,” she said. “Especially around homicide 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, it’s the world we inhabit today.

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

Prosecution Service Statement

A representative for the legal body commented: “Family violence is a terrible offense and our legal officers are actively advised to evaluate murder and manslaughter charges in suicide cases where there is a known context of family violence or other manipulative conduct.

“We have previously charged a several individuals for leading to the fatality of a partner they mistreated, including in cases which are currently active.

“We are also working with police and other stakeholders to guarantee these types of crimes are well-understood – so that we can hold offenders accountable for the full extent of their wrongdoings.”