🔗 Share this article

Every suicide where the victim had endured domestic violence must be considered a potential homicide, as per demands from campaigners who seek to hold abusers accountable for the catastrophic consequences of their behavior.

This move is essential because police and prosecutors are not doing enough to bring perpetrators accountable in instances of self-inflicted death after domestic abuse.

“In case after case, there is widespread breakdown, particularly within the criminal justice system, to scrutinise these fatalities with the seriousness they warrant,” stated a leader of a campaign group during a landmark meeting in Westminster recently.

The meeting, arranged by a group running a “Suicide is Homicide” campaign to advocate for reform in the criminal justice system, brought together relatives who had lost loved ones to suicide after domestic abuse.

Personal Stories of Tragedy

Sharon Holland experienced the death of her child Chloe Holland in March 2023. Before her death, Chloe had informed her former partner to police, providing a two-hour video interview as proof against him.

After her death, the perpetrator was convicted of coercive and controlling behavior and imprisoned for over three years. He was subsequently jailed for an additional term after a second woman came forward to disclose 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 new law to bring perpetrators to justice; however she then discovered that laws were already in place, they just weren’t often being used to achieve convictions.

“I decided it was not a fresh legislation I needed as existing laws were already there, and after finding out how much my child had been let down previous to her death by the police and many other agencies, they needed to do their job properly, and practices required reform,” she said.

“Over 47 families have contacted me and just a handful of us have had a conviction,” she added. “I was so shocked to see such a large number 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 impacted inquiries that weren’t possibly going anywhere.”

Further Heartbreaking Account

Saskia Lightburn Richie’s child Hannah died in spring 2017, in what she called “the ultimate abusive action” in a campaign of abuse.

“Hannah was vibrant, she was caring,” she stated. “She was full of promise, and she was an exceptional, really loving mum to her kids, and she took her own life after 24 months in a partnership where she was systematically destroyed by her partner,” she said.

“She was physically beaten, she was psychologically tortured, she was controlled and broken down piece by piece until she could not see a way forward. The man who caused this went unpunished, because we label it self-inflicted death, we conclude the case and we move on.

“Yet I was unable to continue,” she said, “and I have not managed to let go. In truth, Hannah didn’t just die by suicide. She was murdered. Her death was gradual and deliberately 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 told that there was no action that they could do.

“There was no investigation into her death. The domestic homicide review, which I had to struggle to obtain, took five years and had no impact. A four day inquest found death by suicide, notwithstanding huge evidence over a very traumatic four day period of domestic abuse and failings by multiple services.”

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

She said the self-inflicted death is murder movement was vital “since when someone takes their own life after they’ve suffered domestic abuse, we have to investigate it for what it truly represents, 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 hold abusers accountable for driving their victims to death.

“We have the laws. We require determination, we need law enforcement to conduct thorough inquiries. We need the prosecution authority to prosecute. We need the judiciary to understand that words and control can kill equally to hands and weapons.”

Political Response

At a second meeting in the House of Commons, chaired by a opposition politician, and including the safeguarding minister, the grieving families again shared their experiences.

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, in truth, these were the culmination of actually, somebody else’s violence, and these aren’t rare incidents.”

“Our law is broken, we are aware,” she said. “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 no longer fit for purpose, quite frankly, given the society we currently live in.

“I will not claim that it’s going to be easy to resolve. It is extremely complicated and challenging, particularly when you consider the issue of murder, but we acknowledge that it requires examination.”

Prosecution Service Statement

A representative for the prosecution service commented: “Family violence is a terrible crime and our legal officers are actively advised to evaluate homicide allegations in suicide cases where there is a established background of family violence or other manipulative conduct.

“We have in the past prosecuted a number of defendants for leading to the fatality of a companion they abused, including in cases which are ongoing.

“We are collaborating with police and other parties to guarantee these kinds of offences are clearly recognized – so that we can bring perpetrators to justice for the full extent of their crimes.”