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Each self-inflicted death in which the victim had experienced domestic violence should be considered a potential murder case, according to demands from campaigners who seek to make perpetrators responsible for the catastrophic impact of their behavior.

This move is essential because police and prosecutors are failing to hold offenders to justice in instances of self-inflicted death following domestic abuse.

“In case after case, there is systemic and structural failure, especially within the criminal justice system, to examine these deaths with the gravity they deserve,” stated a leader of a advocacy organization during a landmark meeting in London recently.

The assembly, organized by a group leading a “Suicide is Homicide” campaign to fight for reform in the criminal justice system, brought together relatives who had suffered bereavement to self-inflicted death after domestic abuse.

Personal Stories of Loss

One mother experienced the death of her child her 23-year-old daughter in spring 2023. Before her death, the young woman had reported her ex-boyfriend to authorities, submitting a lengthy recorded statement as proof about his conduct.

After her death, the perpetrator was convicted of coercive and controlling behavior and jailed for over three years. He was later sentenced for three years and seven months after a another victim stepped up to report that she had been in a harmful partnership with him.

In the wake of her loss, the parent chose to advocate for a new law to hold offenders to justice; however she then realized that laws were existing, 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 learning how much my child had been let down previous to her taking her life by the authorities and many other agencies, they had to do their job properly, and things needed to change,” she said.

“More than four dozen relatives have found me and just a handful of us have had a conviction,” she added. “I was astonished to see such a large number who have been battling the police and CPS for years and receiving no resolution for their child 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 passed away in spring 2017, in what she called “the final act of violence” in a campaign of abuse.

“She was energetic, she was caring,” she said. “She had great potential, and she was an exceptional, deeply devoted mum to her kids, and she took her own life after 24 months in a partnership where she was methodically broken down by her partner,” she said.

“She endured physical assaults, she was psychologically tortured, she was controlled and dismantled piece by piece until she was unable to envision a way forward. The man who caused this went unpunished, because we label it suicide, we close the file and we move on.

“Yet I was unable to continue,” she said, “and I have not managed to move on. In truth, Hannah did not merely take her own life. She was murdered. She was killed slowly and intentionally over a two year period, 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 nothing that they were able to take.

“There was no investigation into her death. The domestic violence fatality analysis, which I had to struggle to obtain, took five years and had no impact. A lengthy coroner’s hearing found self-inflicted death, notwithstanding substantial proof over a very traumatic four day period of family violence and shortcomings by multiple services.”

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

She emphasized the self-inflicted death is murder campaign was critical “because when an individual dies by suicide after they’ve endured domestic abuse, we have to investigate it for what it really is, which is homicide.

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

“The statutes exist. We need the will, we need police to conduct thorough inquiries. We need the prosecution authority to prosecute. We need judges to recognize that words and control can kill just as much as physical force and arms.”

Government Reaction

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

A parliamentary under-secretary told the meeting: “These deaths are often dismissed as if they were their own choice, they chose to do this, when, reality, these were the result of in fact, another person’s abuse, and these aren’t isolated stories.”

“The legal system is flawed, we know that,” she said. “Especially around murder or manslaughter, it is fragmented. It’s not written in statute regardless, it has been shaped with common law practices for generations, and it is outdated, honestly, it’s the world we currently live in.

“I will not claim that it’s going to be easy to fix. It is incredibly complex and challenging, particularly when you look at the matter of murder, but we recognize that it requires examination.”

Prosecution Service Statement

A spokesperson for the legal body said: “Family violence is a terrible offense and our prosecutors are regularly instructed to consider murder and manslaughter charges in suicide cases where there is a established background of family violence or other manipulative conduct.

“We have previously charged a number of defendants for causing the death of a companion they mistreated, including in proceedings which are ongoing.

“We are collaborating with police and other parties to ensure these kinds of offences are clearly recognized – so that we can bring perpetrators accountable for the complete scope of their crimes.”