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Every suicide in which the deceased had experienced domestic violence should be considered a potential murder case, according to demands from advocates who aim to make perpetrators responsible for the devastating consequences of their actions.

This move is necessary because police and prosecutors are not doing enough to hold offenders accountable in instances of self-inflicted death following domestic abuse.

“In case after case, there is widespread breakdown, especially within the criminal justice system, to examine these deaths with the seriousness they deserve,” remarked a leader of a campaign group at a significant meeting in London earlier this week.

The meeting, organized by a group leading a “Self-Inflicted Death is Murder” campaign to advocate for reform in the criminal justice system, united families who had lost loved ones to self-inflicted death after family violence.

Personal Stories of Tragedy

Sharon Holland lost her daughter Chloe Holland in spring 2023. Before her death, Chloe had informed her ex-boyfriend to authorities, providing a lengthy recorded statement as proof about his conduct.

After her death, the individual was found guilty of manipulative and domineering conduct and jailed for over three years. He was subsequently jailed for an additional term after a another victim stepped up to disclose that she had been in a harmful partnership with him.

In the wake of her loss, the parent chose to advocate for a legal change to hold offenders accountable; however she then realized that laws were existing, they just were rarely applied to achieve convictions.

“I decided it wasn’t a new law I needed as existing laws were already there, and after learning how much my child had been let down before her death by the police and many other agencies, they had to do their job properly, and practices needed to change,” she said.

“Over 47 families have contacted me and just a handful of us have had a guilty verdict,” she continued. “I was so shocked to see so many families who have been fighting the authorities and CPS for a long time and getting no justice for their child or brother or sister and could not speak out in case it impacted inquiries that were not progressing.”

Another Tragic Case

One mother’s child Hannah died in spring 2017, in what she described as “the final act of violence” in a prolonged pattern of mistreatment.

“Hannah was energetic, she was loving,” she said. “She had great potential, and she was an amazing, really loving mum to her kids, and she died by suicide after two years in a partnership where she was methodically broken down by her companion,” she explained.

“She endured physical assaults, she was mentally tormented, she was controlled and broken down gradually until she could not see a way forward. The man who did this to her walked free, because we label it suicide, we close the file 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. She was killed slowly and deliberately over a 24-month span, 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 no action that they were able to take.

“There was no investigation into her passing. The domestic violence fatality analysis, which I had to struggle to obtain, took five years and changed nothing. A four day inquest found death by suicide, notwithstanding substantial proof over a extremely distressing four day period of domestic abuse and failings by various agencies.”

The mother informed the gathering that for eight years she has “been fighting a system that ignores what is obvious”.

She emphasized the suicide is homicide campaign was vital “because when someone dies by suicide after they’ve suffered family violence, we have to investigate it for what it really is, which is murder.

“We need to use the legislation we already possess effectively and it is not occurring at the present, and we need to make perpetrators responsible for pushing their targets to suicide.

“The statutes exist. We require determination, we need police to investigate properly. We need the prosecution authority to take legal action. We need judges to understand that verbal abuse and manipulation can kill equally to physical force and arms.”

Political Response

At a second meeting in the Parliament, chaired by a opposition politician, and including the government official, the bereaved relatives again shared their experiences.

A parliamentary under-secretary told the meeting: “These deaths are often written off as if they were their decision, they opted for this, when, reality, these were the result of in fact, somebody else’s violence, and these aren’t rare incidents.”

“The legal system is flawed, we know that,” she stated. “Particularly around murder or manslaughter, it is piecemeal. It lacks statutory basis anyway, it has been shaped with common law practices for centuries, and it is no longer fit for purpose, 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 consider the issue of homicide, but we recognize that it requires examination.”

Legal Authority Comment

A spokesperson for the prosecution service said: “Domestic abuse is a heinous offense and our legal officers are actively advised to evaluate murder and manslaughter charges in suicide cases where there is a established background of family violence or other manipulative conduct.

“We have previously charged a several individuals for leading to the fatality of a partner they abused, encompassing in cases which are currently active.

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