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Every suicide in which the deceased had experienced domestic violence should be treated as a possible murder case, according to demands from advocates who seek to make perpetrators accountable for the catastrophic consequences of their behavior.

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

“Time and again, there is systemic and structural failure, especially within the legal system, to examine these fatalities with the seriousness they deserve,” remarked a co-director of a campaign group at a landmark gathering in London recently.

The assembly, organized by a organization leading a “Suicide is Homicide” campaign to fight for change in the criminal justice system, united families who had lost loved ones to self-inflicted death following family violence.

Personal Stories of Loss

One mother lost her daughter Chloe Holland in spring 2023. Prior to her passing, Chloe had reported her former partner to police, providing a lengthy recorded statement as evidence about his conduct.

Following her passing, the perpetrator was convicted of manipulative and domineering conduct and imprisoned for 41 months. He was subsequently jailed for an additional term after a another victim came forward to disclose that she had been in a violent and abusive relationship with him.

After Chloe’s death, the mother decided to campaign for a legal change to hold offenders to justice; yet she then realized that regulations were already in place, they just were rarely applied to achieve convictions.

“I concluded it wasn’t a fresh legislation I needed as existing laws were already there, and after learning how much my child had been failed previous to her death by the police and numerous services, they had to fulfill their duties, and practices needed to change,” she said.

“Over 47 families have contacted me and just a handful of us have had a guilty verdict,” she continued. “I was astonished to see so many families who have been fighting the police and CPS for a long time and getting no justice for their offspring or sibling and didn’t have a voice in case it impacted investigations that weren’t possibly going anywhere.”

Further Heartbreaking Account

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

“Hannah was vibrant, she was caring,” she said. “She was full of promise, and she was an exceptional, really loving mum to her kids, and she died by suicide after two years in a partnership where she was methodically broken down by her partner,” she said.

“She was physically beaten, she was mentally tormented, she was dominated and dismantled piece by piece until she was unable to envision a way forward. The man who did this to her walked free, because we call it self-inflicted death, we conclude the case and we proceed.

“But I could not move on,” 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 deliberately over a two year period, and when I went to the police, when I pleaded with them to look into 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 passing. The domestic violence fatality analysis, which I had to struggle to obtain, took five years and had no impact. A lengthy coroner’s hearing determined death by suicide, despite huge evidence over a extremely distressing four day period of family violence and shortcomings by various agencies.”

The mother informed the gathering that for a decade she has “been fighting a system that refuses to see what is right in front of it”.

She said the suicide is homicide campaign was critical “because 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 properly and it is not occurring at the present, 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 prosecution authority to take legal action. We need the judiciary to recognize that words and control can cause death just as much as hands and weapons.”

Political Response

At a second meeting in the Parliament, led by a Labour MP, and attended by the safeguarding minister, the bereaved relatives again shared their experiences.

A junior minister told the meeting: “Such fatalities are often written off as if they were their decision, they chose to do this, when, in truth, these were the culmination of in fact, another person’s abuse, and these aren’t rare incidents.”

“The legal system is flawed, we are aware,” she stated. “Especially around homicide or unlawful killing, it is piecemeal. It lacks statutory basis anyway, it has been shaped with traditional legal customs for generations, and it is outdated, quite frankly, it’s the world we inhabit today.

“I’m not going to pretend that it’s going to be easy to fix. It is incredibly complex and difficult, particularly when you look at the matter of murder, but we recognize that it requires examination.”

Prosecution Service Statement

A representative for the prosecution service commented: “Domestic abuse is a heinous crime and our prosecutors are regularly instructed to evaluate homicide allegations 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 several individuals for causing the death of a companion they mistreated, including in proceedings which are ongoing.

“We are collaborating 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 wrongdoings.”