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Each self-inflicted death in which the victim had endured abuse at home should be considered a possible murder case, according to demands from advocates who aim to hold abusers accountable for the devastating impact of their actions.

This step is necessary because police and prosecutors are failing to hold offenders to justice in instances of self-inflicted death after domestic abuse.

“Time and again, there is widespread breakdown, especially within the legal system, to scrutinise these deaths with the seriousness they warrant,” remarked a leader of a advocacy organization during a landmark meeting in Westminster earlier this week.

The assembly, arranged by a organization running a “Self-Inflicted Death is Murder” campaign to fight for change in the legal framework, brought together families who had lost loved ones to self-inflicted death following domestic abuse.

Personal Stories of Tragedy

One mother lost her daughter Chloe Holland in March 2023. Prior to her passing, Chloe had reported her former partner to police, providing a two-hour video interview as evidence against him.

Following her passing, the perpetrator was convicted of coercive and controlling behavior and imprisoned for over three years. He was later jailed for an additional term after a second woman stepped up to disclose that she had been in a harmful partnership with him.

After Chloe’s death, the mother chose to advocate for a new law 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 was not a new law I needed as current statutes were already there, and after learning how much my daughter had been failed previous to her taking her life by the authorities and numerous services, they had to fulfill their duties, and practices needed to change,” she explained.

“More than four dozen relatives have contacted me and just a handful of us have had a guilty verdict,” she added. “I was so shocked to see so many families who have been fighting the police and CPS for a long time and getting no justice for their offspring or sibling and could not speak out in case it impacted inquiries that were not progressing.”

Further Heartbreaking Account

Saskia Lightburn Richie’s child her 30-year-old daughter died in May 2017, in what she called “the ultimate abusive action” in a campaign of abuse.

“Hannah was energetic, she was loving,” she stated. “She was full of promise, and she was an exceptional, deeply devoted mum to her kids, 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 dominated and dismantled piece by piece until she was unable to envision a path ahead. The individual who did this to her walked free, because we label it suicide, we conclude the case and we proceed.

“But I could not move on,” she remarked, “and I have not managed to let go. Honestly, Hannah did not merely take her own life. She was murdered. She was killed slowly and intentionally over a 24-month span, and when I went to the police, when I pleaded with them to investigate what he had done to her, I was informed that there was nothing that they could do.

“No inquiry was conducted into her passing. The domestic violence fatality analysis, which I had to struggle to obtain, required five years and changed nothing. A four day inquest found death by suicide, despite huge evidence over a very traumatic four day period of domestic abuse and failings by multiple services.”

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 emphasized the suicide is homicide movement was critical “because when someone 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 use the legislation we currently have properly and it really isn’t happening at the present, and we need to make perpetrators responsible for pushing their targets to suicide.

“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 the judiciary to recognize that words and control can cause death equally to hands and weapons.”

Government Reaction

At a follow-up gathering in the House of Commons, led by a opposition politician, and including the government official, 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, reality, these were the result of in fact, somebody else’s violence, and these are not isolated stories.”

“Our law is broken, we are aware,” she stated. “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 outdated, quite frankly, given the society we inhabit today.

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

Prosecution Service Statement

A representative for the prosecution service commented: “Domestic abuse is a terrible offense and our prosecutors are actively advised to evaluate murder and manslaughter charges in self-inflicted death instances where there is a known context of family violence or other controlling or coercive behavior.

“We have previously charged a several individuals for leading to the fatality of a partner they abused, encompassing in proceedings which are currently active.

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