🔗 Share this article

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

This step is essential because police and prosecutors are failing to bring perpetrators accountable in cases of suicide after domestic abuse.

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

The assembly, organized by a organization running a “Suicide is Homicide” initiative to fight for reform in the legal framework, brought together families who had lost loved ones to suicide following domestic abuse.

Individual Accounts of Tragedy

Sharon Holland lost her daughter Chloe Holland in spring 2023. Prior to her passing, the young woman had reported her ex-boyfriend to authorities, submitting a two-hour video interview as proof about his conduct.

Following her passing, the individual was convicted of coercive and controlling behavior and jailed for over three years. He was subsequently jailed for three years and seven months after a another victim stepped up 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 bring perpetrators to justice; however she then discovered that laws were existing, they just weren’t often being used to secure prosecutions.

“I concluded it was not a fresh legislation I needed as current statutes were already there, and after finding out how much my daughter had been failed previous to her taking her life by the authorities and numerous services, they needed to fulfill their duties, and things needed to change,” she explained.

“Over 47 families have found me and only four of us have had a guilty verdict,” she added. “I was so shocked to see so many families who have been fighting 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 were not progressing.”

Further Heartbreaking Account

One mother’s daughter her 30-year-old daughter died in spring 2017, in what she called “the final act of violence” in a campaign of abuse.

“Hannah was vibrant, she was caring,” 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 relationship where she was systematically destroyed by her partner,” she explained.

“She endured physical assaults, she was psychologically tortured, she was dominated and dismantled piece by piece until she was unable to envision a way forward. The man who caused this went unpunished, because we label it suicide, we close the file and we move on.

“Yet I was unable to continue,” 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 intentionally over a two year period, and when I went to the police, when I pleaded with them to look into what he had done to her, I was told that there was no action that they could do.

“There was no investigation into her passing. The domestic violence fatality analysis, which I had to struggle to obtain, required five years and had no impact. A lengthy coroner’s hearing found death by suicide, notwithstanding substantial proof over a extremely distressing multi-day session of domestic abuse and failings by various agencies.”

The parent told the meeting that for a decade she has “been fighting a establishment that ignores what is obvious”.

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

“We must apply the laws we already possess effectively and it is not occurring at the moment, and we need to hold abusers accountable for pushing their targets to suicide.

“We have the laws. We need the will, we need police to conduct thorough inquiries. We need the Crown Prosecution Service to take legal action. We need judges to recognize that words and control can kill just as much as physical force and arms.”

Political Response

At a second meeting in the House of Commons, led by a opposition politician, and attended by the government official, the bereaved relatives again shared their experiences.

A junior minister informed the assembly: “These deaths are often written off as if they were their own choice, they opted for this, when, reality, these were the culmination of in fact, another person’s abuse, and these aren’t rare incidents.”

“Our law is broken, we are aware,” she said. “Especially around homicide or manslaughter, it is fragmented. It’s not written in statute anyway, it has been shaped with traditional legal customs for centuries, and it is no longer fit for purpose, quite frankly, it’s the world we currently live in.

“I will not claim 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 acknowledge that it requires examination.”

Prosecution Service Statement

A spokesperson for the legal body said: “Family violence is a terrible crime and our prosecutors are actively advised to consider homicide allegations in self-inflicted death instances where there is a known context of domestic abuse or other controlling or coercive behavior.

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

“We are collaborating with police 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.”