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Each self-inflicted death where the victim had experienced domestic violence must be considered a potential homicide, according to demands from campaigners who aim to make perpetrators responsible for the devastating consequences of their actions.

This step is essential because police and prosecutors are failing to hold offenders accountable in cases of self-inflicted death after domestic abuse.

“In case after case, there is widespread breakdown, particularly within the criminal justice system, to scrutinise these deaths with the seriousness they warrant,” stated a co-director of a campaign group during a landmark gathering in Westminster recently.

The meeting, arranged by a group running a “Self-Inflicted Death is Murder” initiative to advocate for reform in the legal framework, united families who had lost loved ones to self-inflicted death following family violence.

Individual Accounts of Tragedy

One mother experienced the death of her child her 23-year-old daughter in spring 2023. Before her death, the young woman had informed her former partner to police, submitting a lengthy recorded statement as evidence against him.

After her death, the perpetrator was convicted of coercive and controlling behavior and jailed for over three years. He was subsequently jailed for three years and seven months after a another victim came forward to disclose that she had been in a violent and abusive relationship with him.

After Chloe’s death, the parent chose to advocate for a new law to bring perpetrators to justice; yet she then realized that laws were already in place, they just were rarely applied to secure prosecutions.

“I decided it wasn’t a new law I needed as existing laws were already there, and after finding out how much my daughter had been failed before her taking her life by the authorities and numerous services, they had to fulfill their duties, and things needed to change,” she explained.

“Over 47 families have contacted me and just a handful of us have had a guilty verdict,” she added. “I was astonished to see so many families who have been battling the police and CPS for years and receiving no resolution for their offspring or sibling and could not speak out in case it affected inquiries that were not progressing.”

Further Heartbreaking Account

Saskia Lightburn Richie’s child her 30-year-old daughter died in May 2017, in what she called “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, really loving mother to her two children, and she took her own life after two years in a relationship where she was methodically broken down by her companion,” she explained.

“She endured physical assaults, she was mentally tormented, she was controlled and broken down piece by piece until she could not see a way forward. The individual who did this to her walked free, because we call 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 did not merely take her own life. She was murdered. Her death was gradual and intentionally over a 24-month span, and when I went to the police, when I pleaded with them to look into what he had done to her, I was informed that there was no action that they could do.

“There was no investigation into her passing. The domestic violence fatality analysis, which I had to struggle to obtain, required five years and changed nothing. A lengthy coroner’s hearing found self-inflicted death, despite substantial proof over a very traumatic multi-day session of domestic abuse and failings by various agencies.”

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

She said the self-inflicted death is murder movement was critical “since when someone dies by suicide after they’ve suffered domestic abuse, we have to investigate it for what it truly represents, which is homicide.

“We need to apply the laws we already possess effectively and it really isn’t happening at the moment, and we need to make perpetrators responsible for driving their victims to death.

“We have the laws. We require determination, we need law enforcement to conduct thorough inquiries. We need the Crown Prosecution Service to take legal action. We need judges to understand that words and control can kill equally to physical force and arms.”

Political Response

At a follow-up gathering in the House of Commons, chaired by a Labour MP, and including the government official, the grieving families again told their stories.

A junior minister informed the assembly: “These deaths are often written off as if they were their decision, they opted for this, when, reality, these were the result of in fact, somebody else’s violence, and these aren’t rare incidents.”

“The legal system is flawed, we know that,” she said. “Particularly around homicide or manslaughter, it is piecemeal. It lacks statutory basis anyway, it has been developed with common law practices for centuries, and it is outdated, honestly, given the society we currently live in.

“I’m not going to pretend that it’s going to be simple to resolve. It is incredibly complex and challenging, particularly when you consider the issue of murder, but we recognize that it requires examination.”

Legal Authority Comment

A representative for the prosecution service said: “Family violence is a terrible offense and our legal officers are actively advised to consider murder and manslaughter charges in suicide cases where there is a established background 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, encompassing in cases which are currently active.

“We are also working with law enforcement and other parties to guarantee these types of crimes are well-understood – so that we can bring perpetrators accountable for the full extent of their crimes.”