Suicides Connected to Family Violence Should Be Investigated as Potential Murders, Demand UK Families

Every suicide where the deceased had experienced abuse at home must be considered a potential homicide, as per calls from advocates who seek to make perpetrators accountable for the catastrophic impact of their behavior.

This step is essential because law enforcement are failing to hold offenders to justice in instances of self-inflicted death after family violence.

“In case after case, there is systemic and structural failure, especially within the criminal justice system, to scrutinise these fatalities with the seriousness they warrant,” remarked a co-director of a advocacy organization at a landmark gathering in Westminster recently.

The assembly, organized by a group running a “Suicide is Homicide” initiative to fight for reform in the legal framework, brought together families who had suffered bereavement to self-inflicted death after domestic abuse.

Personal Stories of Tragedy

Sharon Holland lost her daughter Chloe Holland in spring 2023. Prior to her passing, the young woman had informed her former partner to authorities, submitting a two-hour video interview as proof about his conduct.

After her death, the perpetrator was found guilty of manipulative and domineering conduct and imprisoned for 41 months. He was subsequently sentenced for an additional term after a another victim came forward to disclose that she had been in a violent and abusive relationship with him.

In the wake of her loss, the parent chose to advocate for a legal change to bring perpetrators accountable; however she then discovered that laws were existing, they just were rarely applied to achieve convictions.

“I concluded it was not a new law I needed as existing laws were in place, and after learning how much my child had been let down previous to her death by the authorities and numerous services, they had to fulfill their duties, and things required reform,” she explained.

“More than four dozen relatives have found me and just a handful of us have had a conviction,” she continued. “I was astonished to see such a large number who have been fighting the authorities and CPS for a long time and receiving no resolution for their offspring or sibling and could not speak out in case it affected inquiries that were not progressing.”

Another Tragic Case

Saskia Lightburn Richie’s child her 30-year-old daughter died in May 2017, in what she called “the final act of violence” in a campaign of abuse.

“She was vibrant, she was loving,” she said. “She was full of promise, and she was an amazing, deeply devoted mother to her two children, and she took her own life after 24 months in a partnership where she was methodically broken down by her companion,” she explained.

“She endured physical assaults, she was psychologically tortured, she was controlled and broken down gradually until she could not see a path ahead. The individual who caused this walked free, because we label it self-inflicted death, we close the file and we proceed.

“But I could not move on,” she said, “and I haven’t been able to let go. In truth, Hannah did not merely take her own life. She was killed. Her death was gradual and intentionally over a two year period, and when I went to the police, when I pleaded with them to investigate what he had inflicted upon her, I was informed that there was no action that they could do.

“No inquiry was conducted 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 death by suicide, notwithstanding huge evidence over a extremely distressing four day period of domestic abuse and failings by various agencies.”

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

She emphasized the suicide is homicide campaign was vital “since when an individual dies by suicide after they’ve endured family violence, we have to examine it for what it really is, which is murder.

“We must apply the laws we currently have 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 require determination, we need law enforcement 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 kill equally to hands and weapons.”

Government Reaction

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

A parliamentary under-secretary 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, another person’s abuse, and these are not rare incidents.”

“Our law is broken, we are aware,” she said. “Especially around murder or unlawful killing, it is piecemeal. It lacks statutory basis anyway, it has been developed with traditional legal customs for centuries, and it is outdated, honestly, it’s the world we currently live in.

“I will not claim that it’s going to be simple to fix. It is incredibly complex and challenging, especially when you consider the issue of homicide, but we acknowledge that it requires examination.”

Legal Authority Comment

A spokesperson for the legal body said: “Family violence is a heinous crime and our legal officers are regularly instructed to consider 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 leading to the fatality of a partner they abused, including in proceedings which are currently active.

“We are also working with law enforcement and other parties to ensure these types of crimes are clearly recognized – so that we can hold offenders accountable for the complete scope of their wrongdoings.”