🔗 Share this article

Each self-inflicted death in which the deceased had experienced abuse at home must be treated as a potential homicide, as per demands from advocates who aim to hold abusers responsible for the catastrophic consequences of their behavior.

This step is essential because law enforcement are not doing enough to bring perpetrators to justice in cases of suicide after family violence.

“Time and again, there is systemic and structural failure, particularly within the criminal justice system, to scrutinise these fatalities with the seriousness they deserve,” stated a co-director of a advocacy organization during a landmark meeting in Westminster earlier this week.

The meeting, organized by a organization leading a “Suicide is Homicide” campaign to advocate for change in the legal framework, united families who had suffered bereavement to suicide after domestic abuse.

Personal Stories of Loss

Sharon Holland experienced the death of her child her 23-year-old daughter in March 2023. Prior to her passing, Chloe had informed her ex-boyfriend to police, providing a lengthy recorded statement as evidence against him.

Following her passing, the perpetrator was found guilty of manipulative and domineering conduct and jailed for 41 months. He was later sentenced for three years and seven months after a second woman stepped up to report 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 bring perpetrators accountable; however she then discovered that laws were existing, they just were rarely applied to secure prosecutions.

“I decided it wasn’t a new law I needed 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 numerous services, they had to fulfill their duties, and things needed to change,” she said.

“More than four dozen relatives have contacted me and only four of us have had a conviction,” she added. “I was so shocked to see such a large number who have been fighting the police and prosecution service for a long time and getting no justice for their child or sibling and could not speak out in case it impacted inquiries that weren’t possibly going anywhere.”

Another Tragic Case

Saskia Lightburn Richie’s child her 30-year-old daughter died in spring 2017, in what she described as “the final act of violence” in a prolonged pattern of mistreatment.

“She was vibrant, she was loving,” she stated. “She was full of promise, and she was an exceptional, deeply devoted mother to her kids, and she took her own life after two years in a partnership where she was methodically broken down by her partner,” she said.

“She endured physical assaults, 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 walked free, because we call it self-inflicted death, we conclude the case and we move on.

“But I could not move on,” she remarked, “and I haven’t been able to let go. In truth, she didn’t just die by suicide. She was murdered. Her death was gradual and deliberately over a 24-month span, and when I went to the police, when I begged them to look into what he had inflicted upon her, I was told that there was no action that they were able to take.

“There was no investigation into her passing. The domestic violence fatality analysis, which I had to fight for, took five years and changed nothing. A four day inquest found self-inflicted death, notwithstanding substantial proof 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 “been fighting a establishment that ignores 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 suffered family violence, we have to examine it for what it truly represents, which is homicide.

“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 driving their victims to death.

“We have the laws. We need the will, we need police to conduct thorough inquiries. We need the prosecution authority to prosecute. We need the judiciary to recognize that words and control can cause death equally to hands and weapons.”

Political Response

At a second meeting in the Parliament, chaired by a opposition politician, and including the safeguarding minister, the grieving families again shared their experiences.

A parliamentary under-secretary told the meeting: “Such fatalities are often dismissed as if they were their own choice, they chose to do this, when, in truth, these were the result of actually, somebody else’s violence, and these aren’t isolated stories.”

“The legal system is flawed, we are aware,” she stated. “Especially around homicide or unlawful killing, it is piecemeal. It lacks statutory basis anyway, it has been shaped with traditional legal customs for generations, and it is outdated, quite frankly, it’s the world we currently live in.

“I will not claim that it’s going to be easy to resolve. It is incredibly complex and difficult, particularly when you consider the issue of murder, but we recognize that it requires examination.”

Prosecution Service Statement

A representative for the legal body said: “Domestic abuse is a heinous offense and our legal officers are regularly instructed to evaluate murder and manslaughter charges in suicide cases where there is a established background of family violence or other manipulative conduct.

“We have in the past prosecuted a number of defendants for leading to the fatality of a partner they mistreated, including in proceedings which are ongoing.

“We are collaborating with police and other stakeholders to ensure these kinds of offences are well-understood – so that we can hold offenders to justice for the full extent of their wrongdoings.”