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Each self-inflicted death where the victim had endured domestic violence must be considered a possible homicide, according to demands from campaigners who aim to make perpetrators responsible for the devastating impact of their actions.

This step is necessary because police and prosecutors are not doing enough to hold offenders to justice in cases of self-inflicted death following family violence.

“In case after case, there is widespread breakdown, particularly within the legal system, to scrutinise these fatalities with the seriousness they deserve,” remarked a leader of a campaign group during a landmark gathering in London recently.

The meeting, organized by a organization leading a “Suicide is Homicide” initiative to fight for change in the legal framework, brought together relatives who had lost loved ones to suicide following domestic abuse.

Individual Accounts of Loss

Sharon Holland experienced the death of her child Chloe Holland in spring 2023. Before her death, Chloe had informed her ex-boyfriend to authorities, submitting a lengthy recorded statement as proof about his conduct.

Following her passing, the individual was found guilty of coercive and controlling behavior and jailed for over three years. He was later jailed for three years and seven months after a another victim stepped up to report that she had been in a violent and abusive relationship with him.

After Chloe’s death, the parent decided to campaign for a legal change to hold offenders accountable; however she then discovered that laws were already in place, they just weren’t often being used to achieve convictions.

“I decided it wasn’t a fresh legislation I required as existing laws were in place, and after finding out how much my daughter had been let down previous to her taking her life by the police and many other agencies, they had to do their job properly, and things needed to change,” she said.

“More than four dozen relatives have found me and only four of us have had a conviction,” she continued. “I was astonished to see such a large number who have been battling the authorities and prosecution service for a long time and getting no justice for their child or brother or sister and didn’t have a voice in case it affected investigations that were not progressing.”

Another Tragic Case

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

“Hannah was energetic, she was caring,” she said. “She had great potential, and she was an exceptional, really loving mother to her two children, and she took her own life after two years in a partnership where she was methodically broken down by her companion,” she explained.

“She was physically beaten, she was psychologically tortured, she was dominated and dismantled piece by piece until she could not see a way forward. The individual who did this to her went unpunished, because we call it self-inflicted death, we conclude the case and we proceed.

“But I could not move on,” she said, “and I have not managed to let go. In truth, 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 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 death. The domestic violence fatality analysis, which I had to fight for, took five years and changed nothing. A four day inquest determined death by suicide, notwithstanding huge evidence over a extremely distressing multi-day session of domestic abuse and failings by various agencies.”

The parent told the meeting that for eight years she has “been fighting a establishment that ignores what is obvious”.

She emphasized the suicide is homicide movement was vital “because when an individual dies by suicide after they’ve suffered family violence, we have to examine it for what it truly represents, which is murder.

“We need to apply the laws we currently have effectively and it is not occurring at the present, and we need to make perpetrators responsible for pushing their targets to suicide.

“The statutes exist. We need the will, we need police to investigate properly. We need the Crown Prosecution Service to prosecute. We need judges to recognize that verbal abuse and manipulation can kill just as much as physical force and arms.”

Government Reaction

At a second meeting in the House of Commons, led by a Labour MP, and including the government official, the bereaved relatives again told their stories.

A junior minister told the meeting: “Such fatalities are often dismissed as if they were their decision, they opted for this, when, in truth, these were the culmination of in fact, somebody else’s violence, and these are not rare incidents.”

“Our law is broken, we know that,” she said. “Especially around homicide or manslaughter, it is fragmented. It lacks statutory basis anyway, it has been shaped with traditional legal customs for centuries, and it is no longer fit for purpose, honestly, it’s the world we currently live in.

“I will not claim that it’s going to be simple to resolve. It is incredibly complex and challenging, particularly when you consider the matter of homicide, but we acknowledge that it needs to be looked at.”

Legal Authority Comment

A spokesperson for the prosecution service said: “Family violence is a heinous crime and our legal officers are regularly instructed to evaluate murder and manslaughter charges in self-inflicted death instances where there is a established background of domestic abuse or other controlling or coercive behavior.

“We have previously charged a number of defendants for causing the death of a partner they mistreated, including in proceedings which are ongoing.

“We are also working with police and other stakeholders to guarantee these types of crimes are clearly recognized – so that we can bring perpetrators accountable for the complete scope of their crimes.”