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Each self-inflicted death in which the victim had experienced domestic violence must be considered a potential homicide, according to calls from campaigners who aim to hold abusers accountable for the devastating impact of their actions.

This step is essential because law enforcement are not doing enough to hold offenders to justice in instances of suicide after family violence.

“Time and again, there is widespread breakdown, especially within the legal system, to scrutinise these fatalities with the seriousness they deserve,” stated a leader of a campaign group during a significant meeting in London recently.

The meeting, organized by a organization running a “Self-Inflicted Death is Murder” campaign to advocate for change in the legal framework, brought together relatives who had suffered bereavement to self-inflicted death after family violence.

Personal Stories of Loss

One mother experienced the death of her child her 23-year-old daughter in March 2023. Prior to her passing, the young woman had reported her ex-boyfriend to authorities, submitting a lengthy recorded statement as proof about his conduct.

After her death, the perpetrator was found guilty of coercive and controlling behavior and jailed for over three years. He was subsequently jailed 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 parent decided to campaign for a legal change to bring perpetrators to justice; however she then discovered that regulations were existing, they just were rarely applied to secure prosecutions.

“I concluded it was not a fresh legislation I needed as current statutes were in place, and after learning how much my daughter had been let down before her taking her life by the authorities and many other agencies, they had to do their job properly, and practices required reform,” she explained.

“More than four dozen relatives have found me and only four of us have had a conviction,” she added. “I was so shocked to see so many families who have been fighting the police and CPS for a long time and getting no justice for their child or brother or sister and didn’t have a voice in case it affected inquiries that were not progressing.”

Further Heartbreaking Account

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

“Hannah was energetic, she was caring,” she said. “She was full of promise, and she was an exceptional, deeply devoted mum to her kids, and she took her own life after 24 months in a relationship where she was methodically broken down by her partner,” she explained.

“She endured physical assaults, she was psychologically tortured, she was controlled and broken down piece by piece until she could not see a path ahead. The man who did this to her went unpunished, because we call it self-inflicted death, we conclude the case and we move on.

“Yet I was unable to continue,” she said, “and I have not managed to move on. Honestly, Hannah did not merely take her own life. She was killed. She was killed slowly and deliberately over a 24-month span, and when I approached the authorities, when I pleaded with them to look into what he had inflicted upon her, I was informed that there was no action that they could do.

“There was no investigation into her passing. The domestic homicide review, which I had to struggle to obtain, required five years and had no impact. A four day inquest found self-inflicted death, notwithstanding substantial proof over a extremely distressing multi-day session of domestic abuse and shortcomings by various agencies.”

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

She said the suicide is homicide movement was critical “since when an individual dies by suicide after they’ve suffered family violence, we have to investigate it for what it really is, which is murder.

“We must use the legislation we currently have effectively and it really isn’t happening at the present, and we need to hold abusers accountable for driving their victims to death.

“The statutes exist. We need the will, we need police to conduct thorough inquiries. We need the Crown Prosecution Service to prosecute. We need the judiciary to understand that verbal abuse and manipulation can cause death just as much as hands and weapons.”

Government Reaction

At a follow-up gathering in the Parliament, chaired by a Labour MP, and attended by the safeguarding minister, the bereaved relatives again shared their experiences.

A parliamentary under-secretary informed the assembly: “These deaths are often written off as if they were their own choice, they chose to do this, when, in truth, these were the culmination of in fact, another person’s abuse, and these are not isolated stories.”

“Our law is broken, we are aware,” she stated. “Especially around murder or unlawful killing, it is piecemeal. It lacks statutory basis anyway, it has been developed with common law practices for generations, 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 fix. It is incredibly complex and difficult, especially when you consider the matter of murder, but we recognize that it requires examination.”

Prosecution Service Statement

A representative for the legal body commented: “Family violence is a terrible offense and our legal officers are regularly instructed to consider homicide allegations in suicide cases where there is a known context of domestic abuse or other manipulative conduct.

“We have in the past prosecuted a several individuals for leading to the fatality of a companion they abused, including in proceedings which are ongoing.

“We are also working with police and other parties to ensure these types of crimes are clearly recognized – so that we can bring perpetrators to justice for the complete scope of their wrongdoings.”