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

This move is necessary because law enforcement are failing to bring perpetrators to justice in instances of self-inflicted death following family violence.

“Time and again, there is widespread breakdown, particularly within the legal system, to scrutinise these fatalities with the gravity they deserve,” remarked a leader of a campaign group at a landmark gathering in London recently.

The meeting, arranged by a group running a “Self-Inflicted Death is Murder” campaign to fight for change in the criminal justice system, brought together relatives who had suffered bereavement to suicide after domestic abuse.

Personal Stories of Tragedy

Sharon Holland experienced the death of her child her 23-year-old daughter in spring 2023. Before her death, Chloe had informed her ex-boyfriend to authorities, providing a two-hour video interview as proof about his conduct.

Following her passing, the individual was convicted of manipulative and domineering conduct and imprisoned 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.

In the wake of her loss, the mother decided to campaign for a new law to bring perpetrators to justice; yet she then discovered that regulations were already in place, they just weren’t often being used to achieve convictions.

“I decided it wasn’t a fresh legislation I required as existing laws were in place, and after finding out how much my child had been failed before her taking her life by the authorities and many other agencies, they had to fulfill their duties, and practices required reform,” she explained.

“More than four dozen relatives have contacted me and just a handful of us have had a conviction,” she added. “I was astonished to see so many families who have been battling the authorities and CPS for a long time and getting no justice for their child or sibling and could not speak out in case it affected investigations that were not progressing.”

Further Heartbreaking Account

One mother’s child Hannah died in spring 2017, in what she described as “the ultimate abusive action” in a campaign of abuse.

“She was energetic, she was caring,” she stated. “She was full of promise, and she was an exceptional, really loving mother to her two children, and she died by suicide after two years in a relationship where she was methodically broken down by her partner,” she said.

“She endured physical assaults, she was psychologically tortured, she was controlled and dismantled gradually until she was unable to envision a way forward. The individual who caused this went unpunished, because we label it self-inflicted death, we conclude the case and we move on.

“Yet I was unable to continue,” she remarked, “and I have not managed to let go. Honestly, Hannah 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 pleaded with 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 had no impact. A four day inquest determined death by suicide, despite huge evidence over a extremely distressing four day period of domestic abuse and shortcomings by multiple services.”

The parent informed the gathering that for eight years she has “been fighting a establishment that ignores what is obvious”.

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

“We must use the legislation we currently have properly 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 investigate properly. We need the Crown Prosecution Service to take legal action. We need judges to understand that words and control can kill equally to physical force and arms.”

Government Reaction

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

A parliamentary under-secretary told the meeting: “These deaths are often dismissed as if they were their own choice, they opted for this, when, reality, these were the culmination of actually, somebody else’s violence, and these aren’t isolated stories.”

“The legal system is flawed, we know that,” she said. “Especially around murder or manslaughter, it is fragmented. It’s not written in statute regardless, it has been shaped with traditional legal customs for generations, and it is outdated, quite frankly, it’s the world we inhabit today.

“I will not claim that it’s going to be simple to fix. It is extremely complicated and difficult, particularly when you consider the matter of homicide, but we acknowledge that it needs to be looked at.”

Legal Authority Comment

A spokesperson for the prosecution service commented: “Domestic abuse is a terrible offense and our prosecutors are regularly instructed to evaluate homicide allegations in suicide cases where there is a established background 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, including in cases which are ongoing.

“We are also working with law enforcement and other stakeholders to ensure these kinds of offences are well-understood – so that we can bring perpetrators to justice for the full extent of their wrongdoings.”