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Every suicide in which the deceased had experienced abuse at home must be considered a potential murder case, as per calls from campaigners who seek to hold abusers responsible for the devastating impact of their actions.

This step is necessary because police and prosecutors are not doing enough to bring perpetrators accountable in instances of self-inflicted death following family violence.

“In case after case, there is systemic and structural failure, especially within the criminal justice system, to examine these fatalities with the gravity they warrant,” remarked a leader of a advocacy organization during a significant meeting in London earlier this week.

The meeting, organized by a organization leading a “Self-Inflicted Death is Murder” initiative to fight for reform in the legal framework, brought together 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, the young woman had reported her former partner to authorities, providing a two-hour video interview as evidence against him.

After her death, the individual was found guilty of manipulative and domineering conduct and imprisoned for over three years. He was subsequently jailed for three years and seven months after a second woman came forward to report that she had been in a violent and abusive relationship with him.

After Chloe’s death, the mother chose to advocate for a new law to bring perpetrators accountable; yet she then discovered that regulations were existing, they just were rarely applied to achieve convictions.

“I decided it was not a new law I required as existing laws were in place, and after learning how much my child had been let down previous to her taking her life by the police and many other agencies, they needed to fulfill their duties, and practices needed to change,” she said.

“More than four dozen relatives have found me and only four of us have had a guilty verdict,” she continued. “I was astonished to see such a large number who have been fighting the authorities and prosecution service for years and receiving no resolution for their offspring or brother or sister and didn’t have a voice in case it impacted investigations that were not progressing.”

Further Heartbreaking Account

Saskia Lightburn Richie’s child Hannah died in May 2017, in what she called “the ultimate abusive action” in a prolonged pattern of mistreatment.

“She was vibrant, she was loving,” she said. “She was full of promise, and she was an amazing, really loving mother to her two children, and she took her own life after 24 months in a relationship where she was systematically destroyed by her partner,” she said.

“She endured physical assaults, she was psychologically tortured, she was dominated and broken down piece by piece until she could not see a path ahead. The man who did this to her walked free, because we label it self-inflicted death, we close the file and we proceed.

“Yet I was unable to continue,” she remarked, “and I haven’t been able to let go. Honestly, Hannah didn’t just die by suicide. She was murdered. She was killed slowly and intentionally over a 24-month span, and when I approached the authorities, when I begged them to look into what he had inflicted upon her, I was told that there was nothing that they could do.

“There was no investigation into her passing. 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 huge evidence over a extremely distressing multi-day session of domestic abuse and shortcomings by multiple services.”

The parent informed the gathering that for a decade she has “struggled against a establishment that refuses to see what is right in front of it”.

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

“We need to use the legislation we currently have properly and it really isn’t happening at the moment, and we need to make perpetrators responsible for pushing their targets to suicide.

“The statutes exist. We need the will, we need law enforcement to investigate properly. We need the prosecution authority to take legal action. We need the judiciary to understand that words and control can kill just as much as physical force and arms.”

Government Reaction

At a follow-up gathering in the House of Commons, led by a Labour MP, and including the safeguarding minister, the bereaved relatives again told their stories.

A junior minister told the meeting: “These deaths are often written off 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 isolated stories.”

“The legal system is flawed, we know that,” she stated. “Particularly around homicide or manslaughter, it is piecemeal. It lacks statutory basis regardless, it has been shaped with traditional legal customs for centuries, 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 recognize that it requires examination.”

Legal Authority Comment

A spokesperson for the legal body commented: “Domestic abuse is a heinous offense and our legal officers are regularly instructed to evaluate murder and manslaughter charges in suicide cases where there is a known context 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 companion they abused, including in proceedings which are currently active.

“We are collaborating with law enforcement and other stakeholders to guarantee these kinds of offences are well-understood – so that we can hold offenders accountable for the complete scope of their crimes.”