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Each self-inflicted death where the deceased had experienced domestic violence should be considered a possible murder case, according to demands from advocates who aim to hold abusers accountable for the catastrophic consequences of their behavior.

This step is necessary because police and prosecutors are not doing enough to hold offenders accountable in instances of self-inflicted death after family violence.

“Time and again, there is systemic and structural failure, especially within the legal system, to examine these fatalities with the seriousness they deserve,” stated a leader of a campaign group during a significant meeting in Westminster recently.

The assembly, arranged by a organization leading a “Suicide is Homicide” initiative to fight for reform in the criminal justice system, united relatives who had suffered bereavement to self-inflicted death after family violence.

Personal Stories of Loss

One mother lost her daughter her 23-year-old daughter in spring 2023. Before her death, the young woman had informed her former partner to authorities, providing a two-hour video interview as evidence about his conduct.

Following her passing, the perpetrator was found guilty of manipulative and domineering conduct and imprisoned for 41 months. He was later jailed for an additional term after a another victim 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 new law to hold offenders accountable; yet she then realized that laws were existing, they just were rarely applied to achieve convictions.

“I decided it wasn’t a fresh legislation I needed as current statutes were in place, and after finding out 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 needed to change,” she said.

“Over 47 families have contacted me and only four of us have had a guilty verdict,” she continued. “I was astonished to see such a large number who have been battling the police and prosecution service for years and getting no justice for their child or brother or sister and could not speak out in case it impacted investigations that weren’t possibly going anywhere.”

Another Tragic Case

Saskia Lightburn Richie’s daughter Hannah passed away in May 2017, in what she called “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 exceptional, deeply devoted mother to her kids, and she died by suicide after 24 months in a relationship where she was systematically destroyed by her partner,” she explained.

“She was physically beaten, she was mentally tormented, she was controlled and broken down gradually until she was unable to envision a path ahead. The man who did this to her went unpunished, because we call it suicide, we conclude the case and we move on.

“Yet I was unable to continue,” she said, “and I haven’t been able to move on. In truth, she didn’t just die by suicide. She was murdered. She was killed slowly and intentionally over a two year period, and when I approached the authorities, when I begged 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 death. The domestic homicide review, which I had to struggle to obtain, took five years and changed nothing. A four day inquest determined death by suicide, despite huge evidence over a extremely distressing four day period of domestic abuse and failings by various agencies.”

The parent told the meeting that for a decade she has “been fighting a system that refuses to see what is right in front of it”.

She said the suicide is homicide movement was vital “because when an individual takes their own life after they’ve endured domestic abuse, we have to examine it for what it really is, which is homicide.

“We need to use the legislation we already possess 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 investigate properly. We need the prosecution authority to take legal action. We need the judiciary to understand that words and control can cause death equally to physical force and arms.”

Government Reaction

At a follow-up gathering in the House of Commons, chaired by a Labour MP, and attended by the government official, the grieving families 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 in fact, another person’s abuse, and these are not rare incidents.”

“The legal system is flawed, we are aware,” she said. “Especially around homicide or manslaughter, it is piecemeal. It’s not written in statute anyway, it has been developed with common law practices for centuries, and it is no longer fit for purpose, honestly, given the society we inhabit today.

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

Legal Authority Comment

A representative for the legal body said: “Family violence is a terrible crime and our prosecutors are regularly instructed to consider homicide allegations in self-inflicted death instances 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 leading to the fatality of a companion they mistreated, including in proceedings which are currently active.

“We are also working with law enforcement and other stakeholders to ensure these kinds of offences are well-understood – so that we can bring perpetrators accountable for the complete scope of their wrongdoings.”