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Each self-inflicted death in which the deceased had endured abuse at home must be considered a possible murder case, as per demands from advocates who aim to make perpetrators responsible for the catastrophic consequences of their actions.

This step is essential because police and prosecutors are failing to hold offenders to justice in cases of self-inflicted death following domestic abuse.

“In case after case, there is widespread breakdown, especially within the legal system, to scrutinise these fatalities with the gravity they warrant,” stated a co-director of a advocacy organization during a landmark gathering in London recently.

The assembly, organized by a group leading a “Suicide is Homicide” initiative to advocate for change in the criminal justice system, brought together families who had lost loved ones to self-inflicted death after domestic abuse.

Personal Stories of Loss

One mother lost her daughter Chloe Holland in March 2023. Prior to her passing, the young woman had informed her former partner to authorities, providing a lengthy recorded statement as evidence about his conduct.

Following her passing, the perpetrator was convicted of manipulative and domineering conduct and jailed for over three years. He was subsequently 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 parent decided to campaign for a new law to bring perpetrators to justice; yet she then discovered that regulations were existing, they just were rarely applied to achieve convictions.

“I concluded it wasn’t a fresh legislation I needed as current statutes were already there, and after learning how much my daughter had been failed previous to her death by the police and numerous services, they needed to do their job properly, and practices required reform,” she explained.

“Over 47 families have contacted me and only four of us have had a guilty verdict,” she continued. “I was so shocked to see such a large number who have been fighting the authorities and prosecution service for a long time and receiving no resolution for their child or sibling and could not speak out in case it impacted inquiries that were not progressing.”

Further Heartbreaking Account

One mother’s child her 30-year-old daughter died in May 2017, in what she described as “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, deeply devoted mother to her two children, and she died by suicide after two years in a partnership where she was methodically broken down by her companion,” she said.

“She endured physical assaults, she was psychologically tortured, she was controlled and dismantled piece by piece until she could not see a path ahead. The man who did this to her 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 let go. In truth, she did not merely take her own life. She was murdered. Her death was gradual and deliberately over a two year period, and when I approached the authorities, when I pleaded with them to look into what he had done to her, I was told that there was no action that they were able to take.

“There was no investigation into her passing. The domestic homicide review, which I had to fight for, required five years and had no impact. A lengthy coroner’s hearing determined self-inflicted death, despite huge evidence over a very traumatic multi-day session of domestic abuse and failings by various agencies.”

The mother told the meeting 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 campaign was vital “since when an individual dies by suicide after they’ve endured domestic abuse, we have to examine it for what it really is, which is homicide.

“We must apply the laws we currently have effectively and it really isn’t happening at the present, and we need to hold abusers accountable for pushing their targets to suicide.

“We have the laws. We need the will, we need police to conduct thorough inquiries. We need the Crown Prosecution Service to take legal action. We need judges to recognize that words and control can cause death equally to hands and weapons.”

Government Reaction

At a second meeting in the House of Commons, led by a opposition politician, and attended by the safeguarding minister, the grieving families again shared their experiences.

A junior minister informed the assembly: “Such fatalities are often written off as if they were their own choice, they chose to do this, when, in truth, these were the culmination of actually, somebody else’s violence, and these aren’t isolated stories.”

“Our law is broken, we know that,” she stated. “Especially around murder or manslaughter, it is fragmented. It lacks statutory basis regardless, it has been shaped with common law practices for centuries, and it is no longer fit for purpose, honestly, given the society we inhabit today.

“I’m not going to pretend that it’s going to be easy to resolve. It is extremely complicated and difficult, especially when you consider the issue of murder, but we recognize that it needs to be looked at.”

Prosecution Service Statement

A spokesperson for the prosecution service said: “Domestic abuse is a heinous offense and our legal officers are regularly instructed to consider murder and manslaughter charges in suicide cases where there is a established background of domestic abuse or other manipulative conduct.

“We have previously charged a number of defendants for causing the death of a companion they abused, including in proceedings which are currently active.

“We are collaborating with police and other stakeholders to ensure these types of crimes are well-understood – so that we can bring perpetrators to justice for the complete scope of their wrongdoings.”