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Each self-inflicted death in which the victim had experienced domestic violence should be considered a possible murder case, according to calls from advocates who aim to hold abusers accountable for the devastating impact of their actions.

This move is necessary because law enforcement are not doing enough to hold offenders to justice in cases of suicide following domestic abuse.

“In case after case, there is widespread breakdown, particularly within the legal system, to examine these fatalities with the gravity they warrant,” stated a leader of a advocacy organization during a significant meeting in Westminster recently.

The assembly, arranged by a organization running a “Suicide is Homicide” campaign to fight for reform in the criminal justice system, brought together families who had lost loved ones to self-inflicted death following domestic abuse.

Individual Accounts of Loss

Sharon Holland experienced the death of her child Chloe Holland in spring 2023. Prior to her passing, the young woman had informed her ex-boyfriend to police, providing a two-hour video interview as evidence against him.

After her death, 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 second woman stepped up to disclose that she had been in a violent and abusive relationship with him.

After Chloe’s death, the mother chose to advocate for a new law to bring perpetrators to justice; yet she then realized that regulations were existing, they just were rarely applied to secure prosecutions.

“I concluded it wasn’t a fresh legislation I needed as existing laws were already there, and after finding out how much my child had been let down before her taking her life by the authorities and numerous services, they needed to do their job properly, and things required reform,” she explained.

“Over 47 families have contacted me and just a handful of us have had a conviction,” she added. “I was astonished to see such a large number who have been fighting the police and CPS for years and getting no justice for their child or sibling and didn’t have a voice in case it impacted inquiries that were not progressing.”

Another Tragic Case

One mother’s child Hannah passed away in May 2017, in what she called “the final act of violence” in a prolonged pattern of mistreatment.

“She was energetic, she was caring,” she stated. “She had great potential, and she was an exceptional, really loving mum to her kids, and she took her own life after two years in a partnership where she was systematically destroyed by her companion,” she said.

“She endured physical assaults, she was mentally tormented, she was dominated and broken down piece by piece until she could not see a path ahead. The individual who did this to her walked free, because we call it suicide, we close the file and we proceed.

“Yet I was unable to continue,” she said, “and I haven’t been able to move on. Honestly, Hannah didn’t just die by suicide. She was murdered. Her death was gradual and deliberately over a two year period, and when I went to the police, when I begged them to investigate what he had inflicted upon her, I was informed that there was no action that they were able to take.

“There was no investigation into her death. The domestic homicide review, which I had to fight for, required five years and changed nothing. A lengthy coroner’s hearing found death by suicide, notwithstanding huge evidence over a very traumatic four day period of family violence and shortcomings by various agencies.”

The mother told the meeting that for eight years she has “been fighting a establishment that refuses to see what is obvious”.

She emphasized the suicide is homicide campaign was critical “since when someone dies by suicide after they’ve suffered domestic abuse, we have to examine it for what it really is, which is murder.

“We must apply the laws we currently have properly and it is not occurring at the present, and we need to make perpetrators responsible for pushing their targets to suicide.

“The statutes exist. We need the will, we need law enforcement to investigate properly. We need the prosecution authority to prosecute. 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 safeguarding minister, the bereaved relatives again told their stories.

A parliamentary under-secretary informed the assembly: “Such fatalities are often written off as if they were their own choice, they opted for this, when, reality, these were the culmination of in fact, somebody else’s violence, and these are not rare incidents.”

“The legal system is flawed, we are aware,” she stated. “Particularly around murder or manslaughter, it is fragmented. It’s not written in statute regardless, it has been developed with traditional legal customs for centuries, and it is outdated, honestly, given the society we currently live in.

“I’m not going to pretend that it’s going to be simple to fix. It is incredibly complex and challenging, especially when you consider the issue of homicide, but we acknowledge that it requires examination.”

Legal Authority Comment

A representative for the prosecution service commented: “Domestic abuse is a terrible crime and our legal officers are actively advised to consider murder and manslaughter charges in suicide cases where there is a established background of domestic abuse or other controlling or coercive behavior.

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

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