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Each self-inflicted death in which the victim had endured domestic violence must be considered a potential homicide, according to demands from advocates who aim to make perpetrators responsible for the catastrophic consequences of their behavior.

This step is essential because law enforcement are failing to bring perpetrators to justice in cases of suicide following domestic abuse.

“Time and again, there is systemic and structural failure, particularly within the criminal justice system, to examine these deaths with the seriousness they deserve,” stated a leader of a campaign group during a landmark gathering in London recently.

The meeting, organized by a group leading a “Suicide is Homicide” initiative to fight for change in the legal framework, united relatives who had lost loved ones to self-inflicted death following family violence.

Personal Stories of Loss

One mother lost her daughter Chloe Holland in March 2023. Before her death, Chloe had informed her former partner to authorities, submitting a two-hour video interview as proof about his conduct.

Following her passing, 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 another victim came forward to disclose that she had been in a violent and abusive relationship with him.

In the wake of her loss, the parent decided to campaign for a legal change to hold offenders accountable; however she then discovered that regulations were existing, they just weren’t often being used to achieve convictions.

“I concluded it wasn’t a fresh legislation I needed as current statutes were already there, and after learning how much my daughter had been failed before her taking her life by the police and many other agencies, they had to do their job properly, and things required reform,” she explained.

“More than four dozen relatives have contacted me and only four of us have had a guilty verdict,” she continued. “I was so shocked to see so many families who have been fighting the police and CPS for years and receiving no resolution for their child or sibling and could not speak out in case it impacted inquiries that were not progressing.”

Further Heartbreaking Account

Saskia Lightburn Richie’s child Hannah died in May 2017, in what she called “the ultimate abusive action” in a prolonged pattern of mistreatment.

“She was energetic, she was caring,” she said. “She was full of promise, and she was an amazing, deeply devoted mum to her two children, and she died by suicide after two years in a relationship where she was methodically broken down by her partner,” she explained.

“She endured physical assaults, she was psychologically tortured, she was dominated and dismantled piece by piece until she could not see a path ahead. The individual who did this to her went unpunished, because we label it self-inflicted death, we conclude the case and we proceed.

“Yet I was unable to continue,” she remarked, “and I haven’t been able to let go. Honestly, 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 pleaded with them to investigate what he had inflicted upon her, I was told that there was nothing that they were able to take.

“No inquiry was conducted into her passing. The domestic violence fatality analysis, which I had to fight for, took five years and had no impact. A lengthy coroner’s hearing found self-inflicted death, notwithstanding substantial proof over a extremely distressing four day period of domestic abuse and failings by multiple services.”

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

She said the self-inflicted death is murder campaign was vital “since when someone takes their own life after they’ve endured domestic abuse, we have to investigate it for what it really is, which is murder.

“We need to use the legislation we currently have effectively and it really isn’t happening at the moment, and we need to make perpetrators responsible for driving their victims to death.

“The statutes exist. We need the will, we need police to investigate properly. We need the Crown Prosecution Service to prosecute. We need the judiciary to recognize that verbal abuse and manipulation can cause death just as much as physical force and arms.”

Government Reaction

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: “These deaths are often dismissed as if they were their decision, they chose to do this, when, in truth, these were the result of actually, another person’s abuse, and these aren’t isolated stories.”

“The legal system is flawed, we know that,” she said. “Particularly around homicide or unlawful killing, it is piecemeal. It’s not written in statute anyway, it has been developed with common law practices for generations, and it is outdated, honestly, given the society we currently live in.

“I’m not going to pretend that it’s going to be easy to fix. It is incredibly complex and difficult, particularly when you consider the matter of homicide, but we recognize that it requires examination.”

Legal Authority Comment

A spokesperson for the legal body said: “Family violence is a terrible crime and our legal officers are regularly instructed to evaluate homicide allegations in self-inflicted death instances where there is a established background of domestic abuse or other manipulative conduct.

“We have previously charged a number of defendants for causing the death of a partner they mistreated, including in proceedings which are currently active.

“We are also working with law enforcement and other parties to ensure these kinds of offences are clearly recognized – so that we can bring perpetrators accountable for the complete scope of their crimes.”