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Each self-inflicted death in which the victim had endured abuse at home must be considered a potential murder case, according to calls from campaigners who seek to hold abusers accountable for the catastrophic impact of their behavior.

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.

“Time and again, there is systemic and structural failure, particularly within the legal system, to scrutinise these deaths with the seriousness they warrant,” remarked a leader of a campaign group during a landmark meeting in Westminster recently.

The assembly, organized by a group leading a “Suicide is Homicide” initiative to fight for reform in the legal framework, united relatives who had lost loved ones to self-inflicted death following domestic abuse.

Personal Stories of Tragedy

Sharon Holland experienced the death of her child her 23-year-old daughter in March 2023. Prior to her passing, Chloe had informed her ex-boyfriend to authorities, providing a lengthy recorded statement as evidence about his conduct.

Following her passing, the individual was convicted of coercive and controlling behavior and imprisoned for over three years. He was subsequently sentenced for an additional term 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 to justice; yet she then discovered that laws were existing, they just weren’t often being used to secure prosecutions.

“I decided it was not a new law I needed as current statutes were already there, and after finding out how much my daughter had been failed previous to her death by the police and many other agencies, they had to fulfill their duties, and things required reform,” she explained.

“Over 47 families have found me and only four of us have had a conviction,” she continued. “I was so shocked to see so many families who have been fighting the authorities and prosecution service for a long time and getting no justice for their child or sibling and could not speak out in case it affected inquiries that were not progressing.”

Another Tragic Case

Saskia Lightburn Richie’s child her 30-year-old daughter died in May 2017, in what she called “the final act of violence” in a prolonged pattern of mistreatment.

“She was energetic, she was caring,” she said. “She had great potential, and she was an amazing, deeply devoted mum to her two children, and she took her own life after 24 months in a partnership where she was methodically broken down by her partner,” she explained.

“She was physically beaten, she was psychologically tortured, she was dominated and dismantled piece by piece until she could not see a path ahead. The man who caused this went unpunished, because we label it suicide, we conclude the case and we move on.

“Yet I was unable to continue,” she remarked, “and I have not managed to let go. In truth, Hannah did not merely take her own life. She was murdered. Her death was gradual and intentionally over a two year period, and when I approached the authorities, when I pleaded with 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 death. The domestic homicide review, which I had to fight for, required five years and had no impact. A lengthy coroner’s hearing found self-inflicted death, notwithstanding huge evidence over a very traumatic four day period of domestic abuse and failings by multiple services.”

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

She emphasized the suicide is homicide movement was vital “since when someone takes their own life after they’ve endured family violence, we have to investigate it for what it really is, which is homicide.

“We need to use the legislation we already possess effectively and it really isn’t happening at the present, and we need to make perpetrators responsible for driving their victims to death.

“The statutes exist. We need the will, we need police to conduct thorough inquiries. We need the prosecution authority to take legal action. We need judges to understand that verbal abuse and manipulation can cause death equally to physical force and arms.”

Government Reaction

At a follow-up gathering in the Parliament, chaired by a opposition politician, and attended by 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 actually, somebody else’s violence, and these aren’t isolated stories.”

“Our law is broken, we know that,” she stated. “Especially around homicide or unlawful killing, it is piecemeal. It lacks statutory basis anyway, it has been shaped with common law practices for generations, and it is no longer fit for purpose, honestly, given the society we currently live in.

“I’m not going to pretend that it’s going to be easy to fix. It is extremely complicated and difficult, particularly when you look at the matter of homicide, but we acknowledge that it needs to be looked at.”

Legal Authority Comment

A spokesperson for the legal body said: “Domestic abuse is a terrible crime and our legal officers are regularly instructed to evaluate homicide allegations in self-inflicted death instances where there is a established background of domestic abuse or other manipulative conduct.

“We have previously charged a several individuals for causing the death of a partner they abused, including in cases which are ongoing.

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