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Each self-inflicted death in which the deceased had endured abuse at home should be considered a possible murder case, according to demands from advocates who seek to make perpetrators responsible for the catastrophic consequences of their actions.

This move is essential because law enforcement are not doing enough to bring perpetrators accountable in cases of self-inflicted death after family violence.

“Time and again, there is widespread breakdown, particularly within the legal system, to examine these fatalities with the seriousness they warrant,” stated a co-director of a campaign group during a landmark gathering in Westminster recently.

The assembly, organized by a group leading a “Suicide is Homicide” campaign to advocate for reform in the criminal justice system, brought together relatives who had suffered bereavement to self-inflicted death after family violence.

Individual Accounts of Loss

Sharon Holland lost her daughter Chloe Holland in spring 2023. Before her death, the young woman had informed her former partner to police, submitting a lengthy recorded statement as proof against him.

Following her passing, the perpetrator was convicted of manipulative and domineering conduct and jailed for over three years. He was subsequently sentenced for an additional term after a second woman stepped up to report that she had been in a violent and abusive relationship with him.

In the wake of her loss, the mother decided to campaign for a legal change to bring perpetrators to justice; yet she then realized that regulations were already in place, they just were rarely applied to achieve convictions.

“I decided it was not a fresh legislation I needed as current statutes were already there, and after finding out how much my child had been failed before her taking her life by the police and many other agencies, they needed 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 added. “I was astonished to see so many families who have been battling the authorities and CPS for years and receiving no resolution for their offspring or sibling and didn’t have a voice in case it affected investigations that weren’t possibly going anywhere.”

Another Tragic Case

Saskia Lightburn Richie’s daughter Hannah passed away in May 2017, in what she called “the ultimate abusive action” in a campaign of abuse.

“She was vibrant, she was loving,” she stated. “She had great potential, and she was an exceptional, deeply devoted mother to her two children, and she took her own life after 24 months in a partnership where she was systematically destroyed by her partner,” she explained.

“She was physically beaten, she was psychologically tortured, she was dominated and broken down gradually until she could not see a path ahead. The individual who did this to her walked free, because we call it suicide, 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 killed. Her death was gradual and deliberately over a two year period, and when I approached the authorities, when I pleaded with them to look into what he had done to her, I was informed that there was nothing that they were able to take.

“There was no investigation into her passing. The domestic homicide review, which I had to fight for, required five years and changed nothing. A four day inquest determined death by suicide, notwithstanding substantial proof over a very traumatic four day period of family violence and failings by multiple services.”

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

She said the suicide is homicide movement was vital “since when someone takes their own life after they’ve endured domestic abuse, we have to examine it for what it truly represents, which is homicide.

“We must use the legislation 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.

“The statutes exist. We require determination, we need law enforcement to investigate properly. We need the Crown Prosecution Service to take legal action. We need judges to understand that words and control can cause death equally to physical force and arms.”

Government Reaction

At a follow-up gathering in the House of Commons, led by a Labour MP, and including the safeguarding minister, the grieving families again shared their experiences.

A parliamentary under-secretary informed the assembly: “These deaths are often written off 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 isolated stories.”

“The legal system is flawed, we are aware,” she said. “Particularly around murder or unlawful killing, it is piecemeal. It lacks statutory basis anyway, it has been developed with traditional legal customs for generations, and it is no longer fit for purpose, quite frankly, given the society we inhabit today.

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

Prosecution Service Statement

A spokesperson for the legal body said: “Family violence is a terrible offense and our prosecutors are regularly instructed to consider murder and manslaughter charges in self-inflicted death instances where there is a established background of family violence or other controlling or coercive behavior.

“We have in the past prosecuted a several individuals for causing the death of a partner they mistreated, including in cases which are currently active.

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