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Every suicide in which the deceased had experienced domestic violence must be considered a potential homicide, as per demands from advocates who aim to make perpetrators accountable for the devastating impact of their behavior.

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

“In case after case, there is systemic and structural failure, especially within the criminal justice system, to examine these fatalities with the gravity they deserve,” remarked a co-director of a campaign group at a landmark meeting in Westminster recently.

The assembly, organized by a organization running a “Suicide is Homicide” campaign to fight for reform in the legal framework, brought together relatives who had suffered bereavement to self-inflicted death after family violence.

Personal Stories of Tragedy

One mother experienced the death of her child her 23-year-old daughter in March 2023. Prior to her passing, the young woman had informed her ex-boyfriend to police, submitting a two-hour video interview as proof about his conduct.

Following her passing, the perpetrator was found guilty of manipulative and domineering conduct and imprisoned for 41 months. He was later sentenced for an additional term after a another victim stepped up to disclose that she had been in a harmful partnership with him.

After Chloe’s death, the mother decided to campaign for a legal change to hold offenders accountable; however she then realized that regulations were already in place, they just weren’t often being used to secure prosecutions.

“I decided it was not a new law I needed as current statutes were already there, and after learning how much my child had been failed before her death by the police and numerous services, they needed to fulfill their duties, and practices needed to change,” she said.

“Over 47 families have found me and only four of us have had a conviction,” she added. “I was astonished to see such a large number who have been battling the authorities and CPS for years and receiving no resolution for their child or brother or sister and didn’t have a voice in case it affected investigations that weren’t possibly going anywhere.”

Another Tragic Case

Saskia Lightburn Richie’s daughter 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 vibrant, she was loving,” she said. “She had great potential, and she was an amazing, deeply devoted mother to her kids, and she took her own life after two years in a partnership where she was methodically broken down by her partner,” she said.

“She endured physical assaults, she was psychologically tortured, she was controlled and dismantled piece by piece until she was unable to envision a path ahead. The individual 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 remarked, “and I have not managed to let go. Honestly, she didn’t just die by suicide. She was murdered. Her death was gradual and deliberately over a 24-month span, and when I approached the authorities, 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 death. The domestic homicide review, which I had to struggle to obtain, required five years and changed nothing. A four day inquest found self-inflicted death, notwithstanding substantial proof over a extremely distressing multi-day session of family violence and failings by multiple services.”

The parent told the meeting that for a decade she has “struggled against a system that refuses to see what is obvious”.

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

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

“We have the laws. We require determination, 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 verbal abuse and manipulation can kill just as much as physical force and arms.”

Political Response

At a follow-up gathering in the House of Commons, led by a Labour MP, and including 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 decision, they chose to do this, when, reality, these were the culmination of actually, another person’s abuse, and these are not isolated stories.”

“Our law is broken, we are aware,” she said. “Especially around homicide or unlawful killing, it is fragmented. It’s not written in statute regardless, it has been developed with common law practices for centuries, and it is outdated, honestly, it’s the world we inhabit today.

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

Prosecution Service Statement

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

“We have in the past prosecuted a several individuals for causing the death of a companion they abused, including in proceedings which are ongoing.

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