Self-inflicted deaths Linked to Family Violence Should Be Investigated as Possible Homicides, Urge UK Relatives

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

This move is essential because police and prosecutors are not doing enough to bring perpetrators to justice in cases of suicide following family violence.

“Time and again, there is widespread breakdown, especially within the criminal justice system, to examine these deaths with the gravity they warrant,” stated a co-director of a campaign group at a significant gathering in Westminster earlier this week.

The meeting, organized by a group leading a “Suicide is Homicide” campaign to fight for change in the criminal justice system, brought together families who had lost loved ones to self-inflicted death following family violence.

Individual Accounts of Loss

Sharon Holland lost her daughter her 23-year-old daughter in spring 2023. Before her death, the young woman had reported her former partner to police, submitting a two-hour video interview as evidence about his conduct.

After her death, the perpetrator was found guilty of coercive and controlling behavior and jailed for over three years. He was later sentenced for an additional term after a second woman came forward to report that she had been in a violent and abusive relationship with him.

After Chloe’s death, the mother chose to advocate for a legal change to hold offenders accountable; however she then realized that laws were already in place, they just weren’t often being used to achieve convictions.

“I concluded it wasn’t a fresh legislation I needed as current statutes were in place, and after finding out how much my daughter had been failed before her death by the authorities and many other agencies, they had to fulfill their duties, and practices needed to change,” she explained.

“More than four dozen relatives have contacted me and just a handful of us have had a conviction,” she continued. “I was astonished to see such a large number who have been fighting the authorities and prosecution service for years and receiving no resolution for their offspring or brother or sister and could not speak out in case it affected inquiries that weren’t possibly going anywhere.”

Further Heartbreaking Account

Saskia Lightburn Richie’s daughter Hannah died in spring 2017, in what she called “the final act of violence” in a prolonged pattern of mistreatment.

“She was vibrant, she was caring,” she stated. “She was full of promise, and she was an amazing, deeply devoted mum to her kids, and she died by suicide after two years in a partnership where she was systematically destroyed by her companion,” she explained.

“She was physically beaten, she was mentally tormented, she was dominated and broken down gradually until she could not see a path ahead. The individual who did this to her walked free, because we call it suicide, we conclude the case and we proceed.

“But I could not move on,” she said, “and I have not managed to let go. In truth, she didn’t just die by suicide. 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 investigate what he had inflicted upon her, I was informed that there was no action that they could do.

“No inquiry was conducted into her death. The domestic violence fatality analysis, which I had to fight for, required five years and changed nothing. A four day inquest determined self-inflicted death, despite huge evidence over a very traumatic 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 refuses to see what is obvious”.

She said the self-inflicted death is murder campaign was vital “since when someone takes their own life after they’ve suffered domestic abuse, we have to investigate it for what it truly represents, 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 driving their victims to death.

“We have the laws. We need the will, we need law enforcement to conduct thorough inquiries. We need the prosecution authority to take legal action. We need judges to understand that verbal abuse and manipulation can cause death equally to physical force and arms.”

Government Reaction

At a follow-up gathering in the Parliament, led by a opposition politician, and including the safeguarding minister, the grieving families again shared their experiences.

A junior minister informed the assembly: “These deaths are often dismissed as if they were their decision, they opted for this, when, in truth, these were the culmination of actually, another person’s abuse, and these aren’t rare incidents.”

“Our law is broken, we know that,” she said. “Particularly around murder or unlawful killing, it is fragmented. It’s not written in statute regardless, it has been developed with common law practices for centuries, and it is outdated, quite frankly, it’s the world 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 issue of murder, but we recognize that it requires examination.”

Prosecution Service Statement

A representative for the prosecution service commented: “Domestic abuse is a terrible offense and our prosecutors are regularly instructed to evaluate homicide allegations in self-inflicted death instances where there is a established background of family violence or other manipulative conduct.

“We have in the past prosecuted a number of defendants for causing the death of a partner they mistreated, encompassing in cases which are ongoing.

“We are collaborating with police and other parties to ensure these kinds of offences are well-understood – so that we can hold offenders accountable for the full extent of their wrongdoings.”