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Each self-inflicted death in which the victim had endured abuse at home must be considered a potential murder case, as per calls from advocates who seek to hold abusers responsible for the catastrophic consequences of their behavior.

This step is essential because police and prosecutors are not doing enough to bring perpetrators to justice in instances of suicide following family violence.

“In case after case, there is widespread breakdown, especially within the legal system, to examine these fatalities with the gravity they deserve,” 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 advocate for reform in the criminal justice system, brought together relatives who had suffered bereavement to suicide following domestic abuse.

Individual Accounts of Tragedy

Sharon Holland experienced the death of her child her 23-year-old daughter in spring 2023. Prior to her passing, the young woman had reported her former partner to police, submitting a lengthy recorded statement as proof against him.

Following her passing, the individual was found guilty of manipulative and domineering conduct and imprisoned for 41 months. He was later sentenced for an additional term 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 parent chose to advocate for a new law to hold offenders accountable; yet she then discovered that laws were existing, they just weren’t often being used to secure prosecutions.

“I concluded it wasn’t a new law I needed as current statutes were in place, and after learning how much my child had been let down previous to her death by the authorities and numerous services, they had to do their job properly, and practices required reform,” she said.

“More than four dozen relatives have contacted me and just a handful of us have had a guilty verdict,” she added. “I was so shocked to see so many families who have been battling the authorities and CPS for years and getting no justice for their offspring or brother or sister and didn’t have a voice in case it affected inquiries that were not progressing.”

Another Tragic Case

Saskia Lightburn Richie’s child her 30-year-old daughter passed away in spring 2017, in what she described as “the ultimate abusive action” in a prolonged pattern of mistreatment.

“Hannah was energetic, she was caring,” she stated. “She had great potential, and she was an amazing, really loving mother to her kids, and she took her own life after two years in a relationship where she was methodically broken down by her partner,” she said.

“She was physically beaten, she was mentally tormented, she was controlled and dismantled piece by piece until she was unable to envision a path ahead. The man who caused this walked free, because we label it self-inflicted death, we conclude the case and we proceed.

“But I could not move on,” she said, “and I haven’t been able to let go. In truth, she did not merely take her own life. She was killed. 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 told 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 struggle to obtain, took five years and changed nothing. A lengthy coroner’s hearing determined self-inflicted death, despite huge evidence over a very traumatic multi-day session of domestic abuse and shortcomings by multiple services.”

The mother told the meeting that for eight years she has “struggled against a system that refuses to see what is right in front of it”.

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

“We need to apply the laws 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.

“We have the laws. We require determination, we need law enforcement to conduct thorough inquiries. We need the prosecution authority to take legal action. We need the judiciary to understand that verbal abuse and manipulation can cause death just as much as physical force and arms.”

Political Response

At a second meeting in the House of Commons, chaired by a Labour MP, and attended by the safeguarding minister, the grieving families again told their stories.

A junior minister told the meeting: “Such fatalities are often written off as if they were their own choice, they opted for this, when, in truth, these were the result of actually, somebody else’s violence, and these aren’t isolated stories.”

“Our law is broken, we are aware,” she said. “Especially around homicide or unlawful killing, it is fragmented. It lacks statutory basis regardless, it has been shaped with common law practices for generations, and it is outdated, quite frankly, it’s the world we inhabit today.

“I’m not going to pretend that it’s going to be simple to resolve. It is incredibly complex and challenging, especially when you look at the issue of murder, but we acknowledge that it requires examination.”

Prosecution Service Statement

A representative for the prosecution service commented: “Domestic abuse is a heinous offense and our legal officers are actively advised to consider homicide allegations in suicide cases where there is a established background of domestic abuse or other manipulative conduct.

“We have in the past prosecuted a number of defendants for causing the death of a partner they abused, including in proceedings which are ongoing.

“We are collaborating with law enforcement and other stakeholders to guarantee these types of crimes are clearly recognized – so that we can hold offenders to justice for the full extent of their wrongdoings.”