🔗 Share this article

Each self-inflicted death where the victim had endured domestic violence should be treated as a potential murder case, as per demands from campaigners who aim to make perpetrators accountable for the catastrophic consequences of their behavior.

This step is essential because law enforcement are failing to bring perpetrators to justice in cases of suicide after family violence.

“In case after case, there is widespread breakdown, particularly within the criminal justice system, to scrutinise these deaths with the gravity they warrant,” remarked a co-director of a campaign group during a landmark meeting in Westminster earlier this week.

The assembly, organized by a group leading a “Self-Inflicted Death is Murder” initiative to fight for change in the legal framework, brought together relatives who had suffered bereavement to self-inflicted death following domestic abuse.

Personal Stories of Tragedy

Sharon Holland experienced the death of her child Chloe Holland in March 2023. Prior to her passing, the young woman had reported her ex-boyfriend to authorities, providing a lengthy recorded statement as evidence about his conduct.

Following her passing, the individual was found guilty 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 report 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 hold offenders to justice; yet she then discovered that laws were already in place, they just were rarely applied to secure prosecutions.

“I concluded it was not a fresh legislation I required as existing laws were in place, and after finding out how much my daughter had been failed previous to her death by the authorities and numerous services, they needed to do their job properly, and practices required reform,” she explained.

“Over 47 families have found me and just a handful of us have had a guilty verdict,” she continued. “I was so shocked to see so many families who have been battling the authorities and CPS for a long time and receiving no resolution for their offspring or sibling and didn’t have a voice in case it affected investigations that weren’t possibly going anywhere.”

Another Tragic Case

One mother’s daughter Hannah died in spring 2017, in what she called “the ultimate abusive action” in a campaign of abuse.

“She was energetic, she was caring,” she stated. “She had great potential, and she was an amazing, deeply devoted mum to her two children, and she died by suicide after 24 months in a partnership where she was systematically destroyed by her companion,” she said.

“She endured physical assaults, she was psychologically tortured, she was dominated and broken down piece by piece until she was unable to envision a path ahead. The man who caused this walked free, because we label it self-inflicted death, we close the file and we proceed.

“Yet I was unable to continue,” she remarked, “and I have not managed to let go. In truth, she did not merely take her own life. She was murdered. Her death was gradual and deliberately over a two year period, and when I approached the authorities, when I begged 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 death. The domestic violence fatality analysis, which I had to fight for, took five years and had no impact. A four day inquest found self-inflicted death, despite huge evidence over a extremely distressing multi-day session of family violence and shortcomings by multiple services.”

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

She said the suicide is homicide campaign was vital “since when an individual dies by suicide after they’ve endured domestic abuse, we have to investigate it for what it truly represents, which is homicide.

“We must use the legislation we currently have properly and it really isn’t happening at the moment, and we need to hold abusers accountable for pushing their targets to suicide.

“We have the laws. We require determination, we need police to conduct thorough inquiries. We need the prosecution authority to take legal action. We need judges to recognize that words and control can cause death equally to physical force and arms.”

Government Reaction

At a second meeting in the House of Commons, led by a opposition politician, and attended by the government official, the grieving families again told their stories.

A parliamentary under-secretary informed the assembly: “These deaths are often dismissed as if they were their own choice, they chose to do this, when, in truth, these were the result of actually, somebody else’s violence, and these aren’t rare incidents.”

“The legal system is flawed, we are aware,” she stated. “Especially around homicide or manslaughter, it is fragmented. It lacks statutory basis regardless, it has been shaped with traditional legal customs for centuries, 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 easy to fix. It is incredibly complex and challenging, especially when you consider the matter of homicide, but we acknowledge that it requires examination.”

Prosecution Service Statement

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

“We have previously charged a number of defendants for causing the death of a partner they mistreated, encompassing 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 to justice for the full extent of their crimes.”