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Every suicide where the victim had experienced abuse at home should be treated as a possible murder case, according to demands from campaigners who aim to hold abusers responsible for the catastrophic consequences of their behavior.

This step is essential because law enforcement are not doing enough to bring perpetrators to justice in cases of suicide following family violence.

“Time and again, there is systemic and structural failure, especially within the criminal justice system, to examine these fatalities with the seriousness they warrant,” stated a co-director of a advocacy organization at a significant meeting in London recently.

The assembly, organized by a group leading a “Suicide is Homicide” initiative to fight for reform in the legal framework, united families who had suffered bereavement to self-inflicted death following family violence.

Personal Stories of Tragedy

Sharon Holland lost her daughter her 23-year-old daughter in spring 2023. Prior to her passing, Chloe had reported her ex-boyfriend to police, providing a two-hour video interview as evidence about his conduct.

After her death, the individual was found guilty of coercive and controlling behavior and imprisoned for over three years. He was subsequently jailed for three years and seven months after a second woman came forward to report that she had been in a harmful partnership with him.

In the wake of her loss, the mother chose to advocate for a new law to bring perpetrators to justice; yet she then realized that laws were existing, they just were rarely applied to achieve convictions.

“I concluded it wasn’t a new law I required as current statutes were in place, and after learning how much my daughter had been failed previous to her taking her life by the police and numerous services, they needed to do their job properly, and things required reform,” she explained.

“More than four dozen relatives have found me and just a handful of us have had a guilty verdict,” she continued. “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 offspring or sibling and could not speak out in case it affected investigations that were not progressing.”

Further Heartbreaking Account

Saskia Lightburn Richie’s daughter her 30-year-old daughter died in spring 2017, in what she described as “the ultimate abusive action” in a campaign of abuse.

“Hannah 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 relationship where she was methodically broken down by her partner,” she explained.

“She endured physical assaults, she was psychologically tortured, she was controlled and broken down piece by piece until she was unable to envision a way forward. The individual who caused this walked free, because we label it self-inflicted death, we close the file and we move on.

“Yet I was unable to continue,” she said, “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 two year period, and when I approached the authorities, when I begged them to look into what he had inflicted upon her, I was informed that there was nothing that they could do.

“No inquiry was conducted into her passing. The domestic homicide review, which I had to fight for, took five years and had no impact. A lengthy coroner’s hearing determined death by suicide, despite substantial proof over a very traumatic four day period of domestic abuse and failings by various agencies.”

The mother told the meeting that for a decade she has “struggled against a system that ignores what is obvious”.

She said the suicide is homicide movement was critical “since when someone dies by suicide after they’ve suffered family violence, we have to examine it for what it truly represents, which is murder.

“We must use the legislation we currently have properly and it is not occurring at the present, and we need to hold abusers accountable for driving their victims to death.

“We have the laws. We require determination, we need police to investigate properly. We need the prosecution authority to take legal action. We need judges to understand that words and control can cause death equally to physical force and arms.”

Political Response

At a follow-up gathering in the Parliament, chaired by a Labour MP, and attended by the safeguarding minister, the bereaved relatives again told their stories.

A parliamentary under-secretary told the meeting: “Such fatalities are often written off as if they were their decision, they chose to do this, when, reality, these were the result of in fact, somebody else’s violence, and these are not rare incidents.”

“The legal system is flawed, we are aware,” she stated. “Particularly around murder or manslaughter, it is piecemeal. It’s not written in statute anyway, it has been developed with traditional legal customs for generations, and it is outdated, honestly, given the society we inhabit today.

“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 acknowledge that it needs to be looked at.”

Legal Authority Comment

A representative for the prosecution service commented: “Domestic abuse is a terrible offense and our legal officers are regularly instructed to consider murder and manslaughter charges in suicide cases where there is a known context of family violence or other manipulative conduct.

“We have in the past prosecuted a number of defendants for causing the death of a partner they abused, encompassing in cases which are currently active.

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