Self-inflicted deaths Linked to Family Violence Should Be Probed as Possible Murders, Demand UK Relatives

Every suicide where the deceased had experienced abuse at home should be considered a possible homicide, as per calls from campaigners who seek to hold abusers accountable 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.

“In case after case, there is widespread breakdown, particularly within the legal system, to examine these deaths with the gravity they deserve,” remarked a co-director of a campaign group at a landmark gathering in Westminster earlier this week.

The assembly, organized by a organization leading a “Suicide is Homicide” campaign to advocate for change in the legal framework, brought together relatives who had lost loved ones to suicide after domestic abuse.

Personal Stories of Loss

One mother lost her daughter her 23-year-old daughter in March 2023. Prior to her passing, Chloe had reported her ex-boyfriend to police, providing a lengthy recorded statement as proof about his conduct.

After her death, the individual was convicted of manipulative and domineering conduct and jailed for over three years. He was later jailed for three years and seven months after a another victim stepped up to disclose that she had been in a harmful partnership with him.

After Chloe’s death, the parent chose to advocate for a new law to hold offenders to justice; yet she then realized that laws were already in place, they just weren’t often being used to achieve convictions.

“I decided it was not a fresh legislation I required as current statutes were already there, and after finding out how much my daughter had been failed before her taking her life by the authorities and many other agencies, they needed to fulfill their duties, and practices needed to change,” she explained.

“Over 47 families have found 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 battling the authorities and CPS for years and receiving no resolution for their child or brother or sister and didn’t have a voice in case it impacted inquiries that were not progressing.”

Another Tragic Case

Saskia Lightburn Richie’s daughter Hannah died in May 2017, in what she called “the ultimate abusive action” in a prolonged pattern of mistreatment.

“Hannah was vibrant, she was loving,” she said. “She was full of promise, and she was an amazing, really loving mother to her kids, and she died by suicide after 24 months in a relationship where she was methodically broken down by her partner,” she said.

“She was physically beaten, she was psychologically tortured, she was controlled and broken down piece by piece until she could not see a way forward. The individual who did this to her went unpunished, because we label it self-inflicted death, we close the file and we proceed.

“But I could not move on,” she remarked, “and I haven’t been able to move on. In truth, Hannah didn’t just die by suicide. 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 investigate what he had done to her, I was informed that there was no action that they could do.

“No inquiry was conducted into her passing. The domestic violence fatality analysis, which I had to struggle to obtain, required five years and had no impact. A lengthy coroner’s hearing found death by suicide, despite huge evidence over a extremely distressing four day period of family violence and failings by multiple services.”

The parent informed the gathering that for eight years she has “struggled against a establishment that ignores what is obvious”.

She emphasized the suicide is homicide campaign was critical “because when an individual takes their own life after they’ve suffered domestic abuse, we have to investigate it for what it really is, which is homicide.

“We must use the legislation we already possess effectively and it is not occurring at the present, and we need to hold abusers accountable for pushing their targets to suicide.

“We have the laws. We require determination, we need law enforcement to investigate properly. We need the prosecution authority to take legal action. We need judges to recognize that words and control can kill just as much as physical force and arms.”

Political Response

At a second meeting in the House of Commons, led by a opposition politician, and including the safeguarding minister, the bereaved relatives again shared their experiences.

A parliamentary under-secretary informed the assembly: “These deaths are often dismissed as if they were their own choice, they opted for this, when, reality, these were the result of in fact, somebody else’s violence, and these are not isolated stories.”

“The legal system is flawed, we know that,” she said. “Particularly around murder or manslaughter, it is fragmented. It’s not written in statute regardless, it has been shaped with traditional legal customs for generations, and it is no longer fit for purpose, honestly, given the society we currently live in.

“I’m not going to pretend that it’s going to be easy to fix. It is extremely complicated and difficult, especially when you consider the issue of homicide, but we recognize that it requires examination.”

Prosecution Service Statement

A spokesperson for the legal body commented: “Family violence is a terrible offense and our prosecutors are regularly instructed to evaluate murder and manslaughter charges in suicide cases where there is a known context of domestic abuse or other manipulative conduct.

“We have previously charged a several individuals for leading to the fatality 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 complete scope of their crimes.”