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Every suicide in which the victim had experienced domestic violence must be considered a possible murder case, according to calls from campaigners who aim to make perpetrators accountable for the catastrophic consequences of their behavior.

This step is necessary because law enforcement are not doing enough to hold offenders accountable in instances of suicide after domestic abuse.

“In case after case, there is systemic and structural failure, particularly within the legal system, to scrutinise these fatalities with the gravity they deserve,” remarked a co-director of a campaign group during a significant gathering in London earlier this week.

The assembly, arranged by a organization running a “Suicide is Homicide” initiative to advocate for change in the legal framework, brought together families who had lost loved ones to self-inflicted death after domestic abuse.

Personal Stories of Loss

Sharon Holland experienced the death of her child her 23-year-old daughter in spring 2023. Before her death, the young woman had reported her former partner to police, providing a two-hour video interview as evidence about his conduct.

After her death, the perpetrator was found guilty of manipulative and domineering conduct and imprisoned for over three years. He was subsequently jailed for three years and seven months after a another victim stepped up to disclose 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 hold offenders accountable; yet she then discovered that regulations were existing, they just weren’t often being used to secure prosecutions.

“I concluded it wasn’t a fresh legislation I required as existing laws were in place, and after learning how much my child had been let down previous to her death by the police and numerous services, they had to do their job properly, and practices needed to change,” she explained.

“More than four dozen relatives have found me and only four of us have had a guilty verdict,” she continued. “I was astonished to see so many families who have been battling the authorities and prosecution service for a long time and getting no justice for their offspring or brother or sister and didn’t have a voice in case it impacted investigations that were not progressing.”

Further Heartbreaking Account

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

“She was vibrant, she was loving,” she stated. “She was full of promise, and she was an exceptional, really loving mum to her two children, and she died by suicide after 24 months in a partnership where she was methodically broken down by her partner,” she explained.

“She was physically beaten, she was mentally tormented, she was dominated 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 suicide, we conclude the case and we move on.

“But I could not move on,” she remarked, “and I haven’t been able to move on. In truth, she didn’t just die by suicide. She was killed. Her death was gradual and deliberately over a two year period, 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 death. The domestic violence fatality analysis, which I had to fight for, took five years and changed nothing. A four day inquest determined self-inflicted death, despite substantial proof over a extremely distressing multi-day session of domestic abuse and failings by multiple services.”

The mother informed the gathering that for a decade she has “struggled against a establishment that refuses to see what is obvious”.

She said the self-inflicted death is murder movement was critical “since when someone dies by suicide after they’ve endured family violence, we have to investigate it for what it really is, which is murder.

“We must apply the laws we already possess effectively and it really isn’t happening at the moment, 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 investigate properly. We need the Crown Prosecution Service to take legal action. We need judges to recognize that verbal abuse and manipulation can cause death equally to hands and weapons.”

Government Reaction

At a follow-up gathering in the Parliament, chaired by a opposition politician, and attended by the safeguarding minister, the bereaved relatives again told their stories.

A junior minister told the meeting: “Such fatalities are often written off as if they were their decision, they opted for this, when, reality, these were the culmination of actually, another person’s abuse, and these are not rare incidents.”

“The legal system is flawed, we know that,” she stated. “Particularly around homicide or manslaughter, it is fragmented. It’s not written in statute regardless, it has been shaped with traditional legal customs 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 extremely complicated and challenging, particularly when you consider the matter of homicide, but we recognize that it needs to be looked at.”

Prosecution Service Statement

A spokesperson for the prosecution service commented: “Domestic abuse is a terrible offense and our legal officers 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 in the past prosecuted a several individuals for causing the death of a companion they abused, encompassing in cases which are ongoing.

“We are collaborating with law enforcement and other stakeholders to guarantee these kinds of offences are well-understood – so that we can bring perpetrators accountable for the complete scope of their crimes.”