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Each self-inflicted death in which the deceased had endured abuse at home must be considered a possible homicide, as per calls from campaigners who aim to hold abusers responsible for the devastating impact of their actions.

This step is necessary because law enforcement are failing to hold offenders accountable in instances of suicide after domestic abuse.

“In case after case, there is widespread breakdown, especially within the criminal justice system, to scrutinise these fatalities with the seriousness they warrant,” remarked a leader of a advocacy organization during a landmark gathering in Westminster earlier this week.

The assembly, arranged by a group running a “Suicide is Homicide” initiative to advocate for change in the legal framework, brought together families who had suffered bereavement to suicide following family violence.

Individual Accounts of Loss

Sharon Holland experienced the death of her child Chloe Holland in spring 2023. Prior to her passing, the young woman had informed her former partner to authorities, submitting a lengthy recorded statement as evidence against him.

Following her passing, the individual was found guilty of manipulative and domineering conduct and imprisoned for over three years. He was later sentenced for an additional term after a second woman stepped up to disclose that she had been in a violent and abusive relationship with him.

After Chloe’s death, the parent chose to advocate for a legal change to bring perpetrators accountable; however she then discovered that laws were existing, they just weren’t often being used to achieve convictions.

“I concluded it wasn’t a fresh legislation I required as existing laws were already there, and after learning how much my child had been let down previous to her taking her life by the police and numerous services, they had to do their job properly, and things needed to change,” she explained.

“More than four dozen relatives have found me and just a handful of us have had a conviction,” she continued. “I was astonished to see such a large number who have been battling the police and prosecution service for a long time and receiving no resolution for their offspring or brother or sister and could not speak out in case it impacted inquiries that weren’t possibly going anywhere.”

Another Tragic Case

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

“She was energetic, she was loving,” she said. “She was full of promise, and she was an amazing, deeply devoted mother to her kids, and she died by suicide after 24 months in a partnership where she was methodically broken down by her companion,” she explained.

“She endured physical assaults, she was mentally tormented, she was dominated and broken down piece by piece until she could not see a way forward. The man who caused this went unpunished, because we label it suicide, we conclude the case and we proceed.

“Yet I was unable to continue,” she said, “and I have not managed to let go. Honestly, she didn’t just die by suicide. She was killed. Her death was gradual and intentionally over a two year period, and when I went to the police, when I pleaded with them to investigate what he had done to her, I was told that there was nothing that they could do.

“There was no investigation into her death. The domestic homicide review, which I had to fight for, required five years and changed nothing. A lengthy coroner’s hearing determined death by suicide, notwithstanding substantial proof over a very traumatic multi-day session of family violence and failings by various agencies.”

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

She emphasized the self-inflicted death is murder campaign was critical “since when an individual dies by suicide after they’ve suffered family violence, we have to investigate it for what it really is, which is homicide.

“We need to apply the laws we currently have 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 require determination, we need law enforcement to investigate properly. We need the prosecution authority to prosecute. We need judges to recognize that words and control can cause death just as much as hands and weapons.”

Government Reaction

At a follow-up gathering in the House of Commons, led by a opposition politician, and attended by the government official, the bereaved relatives again told their stories.

A junior minister 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 rare incidents.”

“The legal system is flawed, we know that,” she stated. “Particularly around homicide or unlawful killing, it is fragmented. It lacks statutory basis anyway, it has been shaped with common law practices for centuries, and it is outdated, honestly, given the society we currently live in.

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

Prosecution Service Statement

A representative for the prosecution service commented: “Family violence is a heinous crime and our prosecutors are actively advised to evaluate homicide allegations in self-inflicted death instances where there is a established background of domestic abuse or other manipulative conduct.

“We have in the past prosecuted a number of defendants for leading to the fatality of a companion they abused, including in proceedings which are ongoing.

“We are also working with law enforcement and other parties to ensure these types of crimes are well-understood – so that we can hold offenders accountable for the full extent of their wrongdoings.”