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Every suicide where the deceased had experienced domestic violence must be treated as a potential homicide, as per demands from advocates who aim to hold abusers accountable for the catastrophic consequences of their actions.

This move is essential because police and prosecutors are failing to bring perpetrators accountable in cases of self-inflicted death following family violence.

“In case after case, there is systemic and structural failure, particularly within the legal system, to examine these deaths with the gravity they warrant,” remarked a co-director of a advocacy organization at a significant gathering in Westminster earlier this week.

The meeting, organized by a organization leading a “Suicide is Homicide” campaign to fight for reform in the criminal justice system, united relatives who had suffered bereavement to self-inflicted death following domestic abuse.

Personal Stories of Tragedy

Sharon Holland experienced the death of her child Chloe Holland in March 2023. Before her death, the young woman had reported her ex-boyfriend to authorities, submitting a two-hour video interview as proof against him.

After her death, the individual was found guilty of coercive and controlling behavior and jailed for over three years. He was subsequently jailed for three years and seven months after a second woman stepped up to report that she had been in a harmful partnership with him.

In the wake of her loss, the mother decided to campaign for a legal change to hold offenders to justice; however she then discovered that laws were existing, they just were rarely applied to achieve convictions.

“I decided it was not a new law I needed as current statutes were already there, and after finding out how much my child had been failed before her taking her life by the authorities and numerous services, they had to fulfill their duties, and practices required reform,” she said.

“Over 47 families have contacted me and just a handful of us have had a conviction,” she continued. “I was so shocked to see such a large number who have been fighting the police and CPS for years and receiving no resolution for their offspring or brother or sister and could not speak out in case it affected inquiries that were not progressing.”

Further Heartbreaking Account

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

“Hannah was energetic, she was loving,” she said. “She had great potential, and she was an exceptional, really loving mum to her two children, and she died by suicide after 24 months in a relationship where she was systematically destroyed by her companion,” she said.

“She was physically beaten, she was mentally tormented, she was dominated and broken down gradually until she could not see a way forward. The man who caused this went unpunished, 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 move on. In truth, she didn’t just die by suicide. She was murdered. She was killed slowly and intentionally 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 informed that there was no action that they were able to take.

“No inquiry was conducted into her death. The domestic homicide review, which I had to fight for, required five years and changed nothing. A lengthy coroner’s hearing found self-inflicted death, notwithstanding huge evidence over a very traumatic multi-day session of domestic abuse and failings by various agencies.”

The mother informed the gathering that for eight years she has “struggled against a system that refuses to see what is right in front of it”.

She emphasized the suicide is homicide campaign was critical “since when an individual dies by suicide after they’ve endured family violence, we have to investigate it for what it truly represents, which is homicide.

“We need to use the legislation we already possess properly and it really isn’t happening at the moment, and we need to hold abusers accountable for pushing their targets to suicide.

“We have the laws. We need the will, we need police to conduct thorough inquiries. We need the Crown Prosecution Service to take legal action. We need judges to understand that words and control can kill equally to physical force and arms.”

Government Reaction

At a follow-up gathering in the House of Commons, led by a Labour MP, and attended by the safeguarding minister, the grieving families again shared their experiences.

A junior minister informed the assembly: “These deaths are often written off as if they were their own choice, they chose to do this, when, in truth, these were the result of actually, somebody else’s violence, and these aren’t rare incidents.”

“Our law is broken, we know that,” she said. “Particularly around murder or unlawful killing, it is piecemeal. It lacks statutory basis anyway, it has been developed with common law practices for centuries, and it is outdated, honestly, given the society we currently live in.

“I will not claim that it’s going to be easy to fix. It is extremely complicated and difficult, especially when you consider the issue of homicide, but we recognize that it needs to be looked at.”

Legal Authority Comment

A representative for the legal body commented: “Family violence is a terrible crime and our prosecutors are actively advised to evaluate murder and manslaughter charges in self-inflicted death instances where there is a known context of family violence or other controlling or coercive behavior.

“We have in the past prosecuted a several individuals for leading to the fatality of a partner they abused, encompassing in proceedings 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 crimes.”