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Each self-inflicted death where the victim had endured abuse at home must be treated as a possible murder case, according to demands from campaigners who aim to hold abusers accountable for the devastating consequences of their actions.

This move is necessary because police and prosecutors are not doing enough to hold offenders to justice in instances of self-inflicted death after domestic abuse.

“Time and again, there is widespread breakdown, particularly within the criminal justice system, to scrutinise these fatalities with the gravity they warrant,” remarked a leader of a campaign group during a landmark meeting in Westminster recently.

The assembly, organized by a organization leading a “Self-Inflicted Death is Murder” campaign to advocate for change in the criminal justice system, united relatives who had suffered bereavement to self-inflicted death following domestic abuse.

Individual Accounts of Tragedy

Sharon Holland experienced the death of her child Chloe Holland in March 2023. Prior to her passing, the young woman had reported her former partner to authorities, submitting a two-hour video interview as evidence about his conduct.

Following her passing, the individual was convicted of manipulative and domineering conduct and imprisoned for over three years. He was later sentenced for an additional term after a another victim stepped up to report that she had been in a harmful partnership with him.

In the wake of her loss, the mother chose to advocate for a new law to hold offenders to justice; yet she then discovered 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 in place, and after finding out 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 said.

“More than four dozen relatives have found 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 prosecution service for years and receiving no resolution for their offspring or brother or sister and could not speak out in case it affected investigations that were not progressing.”

Further Heartbreaking Account

Saskia Lightburn Richie’s daughter her 30-year-old daughter passed away in May 2017, in what she called “the ultimate abusive action” in a prolonged pattern of mistreatment.

“Hannah was energetic, she was caring,” she stated. “She had great potential, and she was an amazing, really loving mum to her two children, and she took her own life after 24 months in a partnership where she was systematically destroyed by her partner,” she explained.

“She was physically beaten, she was mentally tormented, she was dominated and broken down gradually until she could not see a path ahead. The individual who caused this went unpunished, because we label it self-inflicted death, we conclude the case and we proceed.

“But I could not move on,” she said, “and I haven’t been able to move on. Honestly, she didn’t just die by suicide. She was murdered. She was killed slowly 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 inflicted upon her, I was informed that there was no action that they could do.

“There was no investigation into her death. The domestic violence fatality analysis, which I had to struggle to obtain, required five years and changed nothing. A lengthy coroner’s hearing determined death by suicide, despite huge evidence over a very traumatic multi-day session of domestic abuse and shortcomings by multiple services.”

The mother told the meeting that for eight years she has “struggled against a system that ignores what is obvious”.

She emphasized the self-inflicted death is murder movement was vital “since when an individual takes their own life after they’ve endured family violence, we have to investigate it for what it truly represents, which is murder.

“We must apply the laws we already possess 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 prosecution authority to prosecute. We need judges to understand that words and control can cause death equally to physical force and arms.”

Government Reaction

At a second meeting in the House of Commons, chaired by a Labour MP, and including the safeguarding minister, the bereaved relatives again told their stories.

A junior minister informed the assembly: “Such fatalities are often dismissed as if they were their own choice, they chose to do this, when, reality, these were the culmination of in fact, another person’s abuse, and these are not isolated stories.”

“The legal system is flawed, we know that,” she said. “Particularly around murder or unlawful killing, it is fragmented. It lacks statutory basis anyway, it has been shaped with common law practices for centuries, and it is no longer fit for purpose, quite frankly, it’s the world we inhabit today.

“I’m not going to pretend 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 legal body commented: “Family violence is a heinous offense and our legal officers are regularly instructed to consider homicide allegations in suicide cases where there is a known context of domestic abuse or other manipulative conduct.

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

“We are also working with police and other parties to guarantee these types of crimes are clearly recognized – so that we can hold offenders to justice for the complete scope of their crimes.”