🔗 Share this article

Each self-inflicted death where the deceased had endured domestic violence should be considered a possible homicide, as per demands from campaigners who seek to hold abusers responsible for the catastrophic consequences of their actions.

This step is necessary because police and prosecutors are not doing enough to hold offenders to justice in cases of suicide following domestic abuse.

“In case after case, there is systemic and structural failure, especially within the criminal justice system, to examine these fatalities with the seriousness they deserve,” stated a leader of a campaign group during a landmark gathering in London earlier this week.

The meeting, arranged by a group leading a “Self-Inflicted Death is Murder” campaign to fight for change in the legal framework, united relatives who had suffered bereavement to suicide following domestic abuse.

Personal Stories of Tragedy

Sharon Holland experienced the death of her child Chloe Holland in spring 2023. Prior to her passing, the young woman had reported her ex-boyfriend to police, submitting a two-hour video interview as proof about his conduct.

Following her passing, the individual was found guilty of manipulative and domineering conduct and imprisoned for 41 months. He was subsequently sentenced for three years and seven months after a second woman came forward to report that she had been in a harmful partnership with him.

After Chloe’s death, the mother decided to campaign for a new law to bring perpetrators accountable; yet she then discovered that regulations were already in place, they just weren’t often being used to secure prosecutions.

“I concluded it was not a new law I needed as current statutes were already there, and after learning how much my child had been failed before her death by the authorities and numerous services, they had to do their job properly, and practices required reform,” she said.

“Over 47 families have found me and only four of us have had a guilty verdict,” she added. “I was so shocked to see such a large number who have been battling the police and prosecution service for years and receiving no resolution for their child or sibling and could not speak out in case it impacted investigations that were not progressing.”

Another Tragic Case

One mother’s child her 30-year-old daughter died in May 2017, in what she called “the final act of violence” in a prolonged pattern of mistreatment.

“She was vibrant, she was caring,” she said. “She had great potential, and she was an exceptional, deeply devoted mother to her two children, and she took her own life after 24 months in a partnership where she was systematically destroyed by her companion,” she explained.

“She was physically beaten, she was psychologically tortured, she was controlled and dismantled piece by piece until she could not see a path ahead. The individual who caused this went unpunished, because we label it self-inflicted death, we close the file and we move on.

“Yet I was unable to continue,” she remarked, “and I haven’t been able to let go. Honestly, Hannah 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 begged them to investigate what he had done to her, I was told that there was nothing that they were able to take.

“No inquiry was conducted into her death. The domestic violence fatality analysis, which I had to struggle to obtain, took five years and had no impact. A four day inquest determined self-inflicted death, despite huge evidence over a extremely distressing four day period of family violence and failings by multiple services.”

The mother told the meeting that for eight years she has “been fighting a system that refuses to see what is right in front of it”.

She said the suicide is homicide campaign was vital “since when an individual takes their own life after they’ve suffered family violence, we have to investigate it for what it really is, which is murder.

“We need to use the legislation we already possess properly and it really isn’t happening at the present, 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 take legal action. We need judges to understand that words and control can kill just as much as hands and weapons.”

Government Reaction

At a follow-up gathering in the Parliament, led by a opposition politician, and including the safeguarding minister, the bereaved relatives again told their stories.

A parliamentary under-secretary told the meeting: “Such fatalities are often dismissed as if they were their decision, they chose to do this, when, in truth, these were the culmination of actually, somebody else’s violence, and these are not isolated stories.”

“Our law is broken, we are aware,” she said. “Particularly around murder or manslaughter, it is piecemeal. It lacks statutory basis regardless, it has been developed with traditional legal customs for generations, and it is no longer fit for purpose, quite frankly, given the society we currently live in.

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

Prosecution Service Statement

A representative for the legal body commented: “Family violence is a heinous crime and our prosecutors are regularly instructed to consider homicide allegations in self-inflicted death instances where there is a established background of domestic abuse or other controlling or coercive behavior.

“We have in the past prosecuted a number of defendants for causing the death of a companion they abused, including in cases which are currently active.

“We are collaborating with law enforcement and other parties to guarantee these types of crimes are clearly recognized – so that we can bring perpetrators to justice for the complete scope of their wrongdoings.”