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Each self-inflicted death where the deceased had experienced domestic violence should be considered a potential murder case, according to demands from advocates who seek to hold abusers responsible for the catastrophic impact of their actions.

This step is necessary because law enforcement are not doing enough to bring perpetrators accountable in cases of self-inflicted death following family violence.

“Time and again, there is widespread breakdown, especially within the legal system, to examine these fatalities with the seriousness they warrant,” stated a leader of a campaign group at a significant gathering in London recently.

The meeting, arranged by a organization running a “Self-Inflicted Death is Murder” campaign to fight for change in the legal framework, brought together relatives who had suffered bereavement to self-inflicted death after family violence.

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 former partner to police, providing a two-hour video interview as proof against him.

After her death, the perpetrator was found guilty of manipulative and domineering conduct and jailed for 41 months. He was subsequently jailed for three years and seven months after a another victim stepped up to report that she had been in a violent and abusive relationship with him.

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

“I decided it wasn’t a fresh legislation I needed as existing laws were already there, and after learning how much my child had been failed previous to her death by the authorities and numerous services, they needed to fulfill their duties, and practices required reform,” she said.

“More than four dozen relatives have found me and only four of us have had a guilty verdict,” she continued. “I was so shocked to see such a large number who have been battling the police and CPS for a long time and getting no justice for their child or brother or sister and didn’t have a voice in case it impacted investigations that weren’t possibly going anywhere.”

Another Tragic Case

One mother’s child her 30-year-old daughter passed away in May 2017, in what she described as “the ultimate abusive action” in a campaign of abuse.

“Hannah was vibrant, she was caring,” she said. “She was full of promise, and she was an amazing, really loving mum to her kids, and she took her own life after two years in a relationship where she was systematically destroyed by her partner,” she explained.

“She endured physical assaults, she was mentally tormented, she was controlled and broken down gradually until she was unable to envision a way forward. The man who did this to her walked free, because we label it suicide, we conclude the case and we move on.

“But I could not move on,” she remarked, “and I have not managed to move on. Honestly, Hannah didn’t just die by suicide. She was murdered. She was killed slowly and deliberately 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.

“No inquiry was conducted into her death. The domestic homicide review, which I had to struggle to obtain, took five years and had no impact. A lengthy coroner’s hearing determined self-inflicted death, notwithstanding substantial proof over a very traumatic four day period of family violence and failings by various agencies.”

The mother told the meeting that for a decade she has “been fighting a establishment that ignores what is right in front of it”.

She emphasized the suicide is homicide campaign was vital “because when someone takes their own life after they’ve endured family violence, we have to investigate it for what it really is, which is homicide.

“We need to apply the laws we already possess effectively and it is not occurring at the present, and we need to hold abusers accountable for driving their victims to death.

“The statutes exist. We need the will, we need police to conduct thorough inquiries. We need the Crown Prosecution Service to take legal action. We need the judiciary to recognize that words and control can cause death equally to physical force and arms.”

Government Reaction

At a second meeting in the Parliament, led by a Labour MP, and attended by the safeguarding minister, the bereaved relatives again shared their experiences.

A parliamentary under-secretary informed the assembly: “Such fatalities are often dismissed as if they were their decision, they opted for this, when, in truth, these were the result of in fact, somebody else’s violence, and these are not rare incidents.”

“Our law is broken, we know that,” she said. “Especially around homicide or manslaughter, it is piecemeal. It’s not written in statute anyway, it has been developed with common law practices for centuries, and it is no longer fit for purpose, quite frankly, it’s the world we currently live in.

“I will not claim that it’s going to be simple to resolve. It is incredibly complex and difficult, especially when you consider the matter of murder, but we acknowledge that it needs to be looked at.”

Prosecution Service Statement

A spokesperson for the prosecution service commented: “Family violence is a terrible offense and our legal officers are regularly instructed to evaluate murder and manslaughter charges in self-inflicted death instances where there is a known context 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 partner they abused, encompassing in proceedings which are ongoing.

“We are collaborating with law enforcement and other parties to guarantee these types of crimes are clearly recognized – so that we can hold offenders to justice for the full extent of their wrongdoings.”