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Each self-inflicted death where the victim had experienced domestic violence should be treated as a possible homicide, as per demands from advocates who aim to hold abusers responsible for the catastrophic consequences of their actions.

This step is essential because police and prosecutors are not doing enough to hold offenders accountable in instances of self-inflicted death following domestic abuse.

“In case after case, there is widespread breakdown, especially within the legal system, to examine these deaths with the gravity they deserve,” stated a leader of a advocacy organization during a significant gathering in London earlier this week.

The meeting, arranged by a organization running a “Self-Inflicted Death is Murder” initiative to fight for change in the criminal justice system, united families who had lost loved ones 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 informed her former partner to police, submitting a lengthy recorded statement as evidence against him.

Following her passing, the perpetrator was convicted of manipulative and domineering conduct and imprisoned for 41 months. He was later sentenced for an additional term after a another victim came forward to disclose that she had been in a harmful partnership with him.

In the wake of her loss, the mother decided to campaign for a new law to hold offenders accountable; however she then realized that laws were existing, they just weren’t often being used to achieve convictions.

“I decided it was not a fresh legislation I required as current statutes were in place, and after learning how much my child had been let down previous to her taking her life by the police and numerous services, they had to fulfill their duties, and things required reform,” she said.

“Over 47 families have contacted me and only four of us have had a conviction,” she continued. “I was astonished to see such a large number who have been battling the police and CPS for a long time and receiving no resolution for their offspring or brother or sister and could not speak out in case it affected investigations that weren’t possibly going anywhere.”

Further Heartbreaking Account

Saskia Lightburn Richie’s child her 30-year-old daughter died in spring 2017, in what she described as “the ultimate abusive action” in a prolonged pattern of mistreatment.

“She was energetic, she was loving,” she said. “She was full of promise, and she was an amazing, deeply devoted mum to her two children, and she died by suicide 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 dismantled gradually until she was unable to envision a way forward. The individual who did this to her went unpunished, because we label it suicide, we close the file and we proceed.

“Yet I was unable to continue,” she remarked, “and I haven’t been able to move on. In truth, Hannah didn’t just die by suicide. She was killed. Her death was gradual and intentionally over a two year period, and when I approached the authorities, when I pleaded with them to investigate what he had inflicted upon her, I was informed that there was nothing that they could do.

“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 found death by suicide, notwithstanding huge evidence over a very traumatic multi-day session of family violence and shortcomings by multiple services.”

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

She emphasized the self-inflicted death is murder campaign was critical “because when an individual takes their own life after they’ve suffered family violence, we have to examine it for what it truly represents, which is homicide.

“We must use the legislation 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.

“The statutes exist. We need the will, we need police to conduct thorough inquiries. We need the Crown Prosecution Service to take legal action. We need the judiciary to recognize that verbal abuse and manipulation can kill equally to physical force and arms.”

Political Response

At a second meeting in the House of Commons, led by a Labour MP, and attended by the safeguarding minister, the grieving families again told their stories.

A junior minister told the meeting: “These deaths are often written off as if they were their decision, they chose to do this, when, reality, these were the culmination of in fact, somebody else’s violence, and these aren’t rare incidents.”

“The legal system is flawed, we are aware,” she said. “Particularly around homicide or unlawful killing, it is piecemeal. It lacks statutory basis anyway, it has been shaped with common law practices for generations, and it is no longer fit for purpose, quite frankly, given the society we inhabit today.

“I will not claim that it’s going to be simple to resolve. It is incredibly complex and difficult, especially when you look at the issue of homicide, but we acknowledge that it requires examination.”

Legal Authority Comment

A spokesperson for the legal body said: “Family violence is a heinous offense and our prosecutors are actively advised to evaluate murder and manslaughter charges in self-inflicted death instances where there is a known context of domestic abuse or other manipulative conduct.

“We have previously charged a several individuals for causing the death of a partner they mistreated, including in proceedings which are currently active.

“We are also working with law enforcement and other parties to guarantee these kinds of offences are well-understood – so that we can hold offenders accountable for the full extent of their wrongdoings.”