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Every suicide where the victim had experienced abuse at home should be considered a possible murder case, as per demands from campaigners who aim to make perpetrators accountable for the catastrophic consequences of their behavior.

This step is essential because law enforcement 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 criminal justice system, to examine these fatalities with the gravity they deserve,” remarked a co-director of a campaign group at a landmark meeting in Westminster recently.

The assembly, organized by a organization leading a “Suicide is Homicide” campaign to advocate for reform in the legal framework, brought together families who had suffered bereavement to suicide after family violence.

Individual Accounts of Loss

One mother 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 proof against him.

After her death, the individual was convicted of manipulative and domineering conduct and jailed for over three years. He was subsequently jailed for three years and seven months after a second woman stepped up to report that she had been in a harmful partnership with him.

After Chloe’s death, the parent chose to advocate for a legal change to bring perpetrators accountable; yet she then realized that laws were existing, they just weren’t often being used to achieve convictions.

“I decided it wasn’t a fresh legislation I needed as current statutes were in place, and after learning how much my daughter had been failed before her death by the authorities and many other agencies, they had to do their job properly, and practices needed to change,” she explained.

“Over 47 families have found me and just a handful 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 receiving no resolution for their child or brother or sister and could not speak out in case it affected investigations that were not progressing.”

Further Heartbreaking Account

Saskia Lightburn Richie’s child her 30-year-old daughter passed away in May 2017, in what she called “the ultimate abusive action” 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 two children, and she took her own life after two years in a partnership where she was methodically broken down by her partner,” she explained.

“She was physically beaten, she was psychologically tortured, she was controlled and dismantled piece by piece until she was unable to envision a path ahead. The individual who caused this 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 have not managed to let go. Honestly, she did not merely take her own life. She was murdered. Her death was gradual and intentionally over a 24-month span, and when I went to the police, when I pleaded with them to investigate what he had inflicted upon her, I was informed 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 changed nothing. A lengthy coroner’s hearing determined self-inflicted death, notwithstanding substantial proof over a very traumatic four day period of domestic abuse and shortcomings by various agencies.”

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

She said the suicide is homicide movement was critical “since when an individual takes their own life after they’ve endured 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 present, and we need to hold abusers accountable for pushing their targets to suicide.

“We have the laws. We require determination, we need law enforcement to conduct thorough inquiries. We need the Crown Prosecution Service to prosecute. We need the judiciary to recognize that words and control can kill just as much as hands and weapons.”

Government Reaction

At a follow-up gathering in the Parliament, led by a opposition politician, and attended by the government official, the bereaved relatives again shared their experiences.

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 result of in fact, another person’s abuse, and these are not rare incidents.”

“Our law is broken, we are aware,” she stated. “Especially around murder or unlawful killing, it is piecemeal. It’s not written in statute anyway, it has been shaped with traditional legal customs for generations, and it is outdated, honestly, it’s the world we currently live in.

“I will not claim that it’s going to be easy to resolve. It is incredibly complex and difficult, particularly when you look at the issue of homicide, but we recognize that it requires examination.”

Prosecution Service Statement

A spokesperson for the prosecution service said: “Domestic abuse is a heinous crime and our prosecutors are regularly instructed to evaluate homicide allegations in self-inflicted death instances where there is a known context of family violence or other controlling or coercive behavior.

“We have in the past prosecuted a several individuals for leading to the fatality of a companion they abused, encompassing in cases which are currently active.

“We are collaborating with law enforcement and other stakeholders to ensure these kinds of offences are well-understood – so that we can bring perpetrators to justice for the full extent of their crimes.”