🔗 Share this article

Each self-inflicted death where the victim had experienced abuse at home must be treated as a potential murder case, as per calls from advocates who seek to make perpetrators responsible for the devastating consequences of their actions.

This move is necessary because law enforcement are not doing enough to bring perpetrators to justice in cases of self-inflicted death after family violence.

“In case after case, there is widespread breakdown, especially within the criminal justice system, to examine these deaths with the seriousness they warrant,” remarked a leader of a campaign group at a significant gathering in London earlier this week.

The meeting, organized by a group leading a “Suicide is Homicide” campaign to fight for change in the legal framework, brought together families who had lost loved ones to self-inflicted death following domestic abuse.

Individual Accounts of Loss

One mother lost her daughter Chloe Holland in spring 2023. Prior to her passing, Chloe had reported her former partner to police, providing a lengthy recorded statement 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 later jailed for three years and seven months after a another victim stepped up to disclose that she had been in a harmful partnership with him.

In the wake of her loss, the parent decided to campaign for a legal change to bring perpetrators accountable; however she then realized that regulations were already in place, they just weren’t often being used to achieve convictions.

“I concluded it wasn’t a fresh legislation I required as current statutes were already there, and after learning how much my child had been failed previous to her taking her life by the authorities and many other agencies, they had to do their job properly, and practices needed to change,” she explained.

“More than four dozen relatives have contacted me and only four of us have had a conviction,” she continued. “I was so shocked to see such a large number who have been fighting the police and CPS for years and receiving no resolution for their child or brother or sister and didn’t have a voice in case it impacted inquiries that weren’t possibly going anywhere.”

Further Heartbreaking Account

One mother’s child Hannah passed away in May 2017, in what she called “the ultimate abusive action” in a prolonged pattern of mistreatment.

“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 24 months in a relationship where she was methodically broken down by her companion,” she explained.

“She endured physical assaults, she was mentally tormented, she was controlled and dismantled gradually until she was unable to envision a way forward. The man who did this to her walked free, because we label it suicide, we conclude the case and we move on.

“Yet I was unable to continue,” she remarked, “and I haven’t been able to let go. Honestly, she didn’t just die by suicide. She was murdered. Her death was gradual and intentionally over a 24-month span, and when I approached the authorities, when I begged them to look into what he had done to her, I was told 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 struggle to obtain, required five years and had no impact. A four day inquest determined death by suicide, notwithstanding substantial proof over a extremely distressing four day period of domestic abuse and shortcomings by multiple services.”

The parent told the meeting that for a decade she has “struggled against a system that ignores what is right in front of it”.

She emphasized the suicide is homicide movement was vital “since when an individual dies by suicide after they’ve endured family violence, we have to examine it for what it truly represents, which is murder.

“We need to apply the laws we currently have effectively and it really isn’t happening at the present, and we need to hold abusers accountable for driving their victims to death.

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

Political Response

At a second meeting in the House of Commons, chaired by a opposition politician, and attended by the safeguarding minister, the grieving families again shared their experiences.

A junior minister told the meeting: “Such fatalities are often dismissed as if they were their decision, they opted for this, when, in truth, these were the result of in fact, somebody else’s violence, and these aren’t isolated stories.”

“Our law is broken, we are aware,” she stated. “Especially around murder or unlawful killing, it is piecemeal. It lacks statutory basis anyway, it has been shaped with common law practices for centuries, and it is outdated, honestly, it’s the world we inhabit today.

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

Prosecution Service Statement

A representative for the prosecution service commented: “Domestic abuse is a heinous crime and our legal officers are regularly instructed to evaluate homicide allegations in self-inflicted death instances where there is a established background of family violence or other manipulative conduct.

“We have in the past prosecuted a number of defendants for causing the death of a companion they mistreated, including in cases which are ongoing.

“We are collaborating with police and other stakeholders to ensure these kinds of offences are clearly recognized – so that we can bring perpetrators to justice for the full extent of their wrongdoings.”