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

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

“In case after case, there is systemic and structural failure, particularly within the criminal justice system, to examine these fatalities with the gravity they warrant,” stated a co-director of a campaign group at a significant meeting in London recently.

The meeting, organized by a organization running a “Suicide is Homicide” campaign to advocate for reform in the criminal justice system, brought together families who had lost loved ones to suicide after family violence.

Individual Accounts of Tragedy

Sharon Holland lost her daughter Chloe Holland in spring 2023. Before her death, the young woman had informed her ex-boyfriend to police, providing a two-hour video interview as evidence about his conduct.

After her death, the individual was convicted of manipulative and domineering conduct and imprisoned for 41 months. He was subsequently sentenced for three years and seven months after a another victim came forward to report 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 legal change to hold offenders to justice; yet she then discovered that laws were already in place, they just were rarely applied to achieve convictions.

“I decided it wasn’t a new law I needed as existing laws were in place, and after learning how much my child had been let down before her taking her life by the authorities and many other agencies, they had to do their job properly, and things required reform,” she said.

“More than four dozen relatives have contacted me and only four of us have had a guilty verdict,” she added. “I was so shocked to see such a large number who have been fighting the authorities and prosecution service for years and receiving no resolution for their offspring or brother or sister and didn’t have a voice in case it affected investigations that weren’t possibly going anywhere.”

Further Heartbreaking Account

Saskia Lightburn Richie’s daughter her 30-year-old daughter passed away in May 2017, in what she called “the final act of violence” in a campaign of abuse.

“Hannah was vibrant, she was caring,” she stated. “She had great potential, and she was an amazing, really loving mother to her two children, and she died by suicide after two years in a partnership where she was methodically broken down by her partner,” she explained.

“She was physically beaten, she was mentally tormented, she was dominated and broken down gradually until she was unable to envision a way forward. The man who did this to her walked free, because we label it self-inflicted death, we close the file and we proceed.

“But I could not move on,” she remarked, “and I have not managed 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 begged them to investigate what he had done to her, I was informed that there was nothing that they were able to take.

“There was no investigation into her passing. The domestic violence fatality analysis, which I had to fight for, took five years and changed nothing. A lengthy coroner’s hearing determined death by suicide, notwithstanding huge evidence over a very traumatic four day period of family violence and failings by multiple services.”

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

She emphasized the self-inflicted death is murder movement was critical “because when someone dies by suicide after they’ve suffered family violence, we have to investigate it for what it truly represents, which is murder.

“We need to use the legislation we already possess properly and it really isn’t happening at the moment, and we need to hold abusers accountable for pushing their targets to suicide.

“The statutes exist. We need the will, we need law enforcement to conduct thorough inquiries. We need the Crown Prosecution Service to take legal action. We need the judiciary to recognize that words and control can cause death just as much as hands and weapons.”

Government Reaction

At a second meeting in the Parliament, led by a opposition politician, and attended by the government official, 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 own choice, they chose to do this, when, reality, these were the result of actually, somebody else’s violence, and these aren’t isolated stories.”

“The legal system is flawed, we are aware,” she said. “Especially around murder or unlawful killing, it is piecemeal. It’s not written in statute anyway, it has been shaped with traditional legal customs for centuries, and it is outdated, honestly, given the society we currently live in.

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

Prosecution Service Statement

A representative for the legal body said: “Domestic abuse is a heinous crime and our prosecutors are actively advised to consider homicide allegations in suicide cases where there is a known context of domestic abuse or other controlling or coercive behavior.

“We have in the past prosecuted a number of defendants for leading to the fatality of a companion they mistreated, encompassing in cases which are currently active.

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