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Every suicide where the victim had experienced domestic violence must be treated as a potential murder case, according to demands from campaigners who seek to make perpetrators responsible for the catastrophic impact of their behavior.

This step is necessary because law enforcement are not doing enough to hold offenders accountable in instances of self-inflicted death after family violence.

“In case after case, there is widespread breakdown, particularly within the legal system, to examine these deaths with the seriousness they deserve,” remarked a co-director of a advocacy organization at a landmark gathering in Westminster earlier this week.

The assembly, organized by a organization leading a “Self-Inflicted Death is Murder” initiative to fight for reform in the legal framework, united relatives who had suffered bereavement to self-inflicted death after family violence.

Individual Accounts of Tragedy

Sharon Holland lost her daughter Chloe Holland in March 2023. Before her death, Chloe had informed her ex-boyfriend to authorities, submitting a two-hour video interview as evidence about his conduct.

Following her passing, the individual was found guilty of manipulative and domineering conduct and imprisoned for 41 months. He was subsequently jailed for an additional term after a second woman came forward to report 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 new law to bring perpetrators accountable; however she then discovered that regulations were existing, they just weren’t often being used to achieve convictions.

“I decided it wasn’t a new law I needed as existing laws were already there, and after finding out how much my daughter had been let down before her taking her life by the authorities and numerous services, they had 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 conviction,” she added. “I was so shocked to see such a large number who have been fighting the police and CPS for a long time and getting no justice for their child or sibling and could not speak out in case it impacted inquiries that weren’t possibly going anywhere.”

Another Tragic Case

Saskia Lightburn Richie’s child Hannah passed away in May 2017, in what she called “the final act of violence” in a prolonged pattern of mistreatment.

“Hannah was energetic, she was caring,” she stated. “She was full of promise, and she was an amazing, deeply devoted mother to her kids, and she died by suicide after two years in a partnership where she was methodically broken down by her companion,” she explained.

“She endured physical assaults, she was psychologically tortured, she was dominated and broken down gradually until she could not see a way forward. The man who did this to her walked free, because we label it suicide, we close the file and we proceed.

“Yet I was unable to continue,” she remarked, “and I have not managed to let go. In truth, she did not merely take her own life. She was murdered. She was killed slowly and deliberately over a 24-month span, and when I approached the authorities, when I pleaded with them to investigate what he had inflicted upon her, I was told that there was no action that they could do.

“There was no investigation into her passing. The domestic violence fatality analysis, which I had to struggle to obtain, required five years and changed nothing. A lengthy coroner’s hearing determined death by suicide, notwithstanding huge evidence over a extremely distressing four day period of domestic abuse and shortcomings by multiple services.”

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

She said the suicide is homicide movement was critical “because when an individual dies by suicide after they’ve endured family violence, we have to examine it for what it really is, which is murder.

“We need to apply the laws we already possess properly and it really isn’t happening at the present, and we need to make perpetrators responsible for pushing their targets to suicide.

“We have the laws. We need the will, 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 verbal abuse and manipulation can cause death equally to physical force and arms.”

Political Response

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

A parliamentary under-secretary told the meeting: “Such fatalities are often dismissed as if they were their decision, they opted for this, when, in truth, these were the result of in fact, another person’s abuse, and these are not rare incidents.”

“The legal system is flawed, we are aware,” she said. “Especially around homicide or manslaughter, it is piecemeal. It lacks statutory basis regardless, it has been developed with traditional legal customs for generations, and it is no longer fit for purpose, quite frankly, it’s the world we currently live in.

“I will not claim that it’s going to be simple to resolve. It is extremely complicated and challenging, especially when you look at the matter of murder, but we recognize that it needs to be looked at.”

Prosecution Service Statement

A spokesperson for the prosecution service commented: “Family violence is a heinous offense and our legal officers are actively advised to evaluate murder and manslaughter charges in self-inflicted death instances where there is a established background of domestic abuse or other manipulative conduct.

“We have in the past prosecuted a number of defendants for leading to the fatality of a partner they abused, including in proceedings which are currently active.

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