Suicides Connected to Domestic Abuse Should Be Investigated as Possible Murders, Urge British Families

Every suicide in which the victim had experienced domestic violence must be treated as a potential homicide, according to calls from advocates who seek to hold abusers accountable for the devastating impact of their actions.

This step is essential because law enforcement are failing to bring perpetrators to justice in cases of suicide after family violence.

“In case after case, there is widespread breakdown, especially within the criminal justice system, to examine these fatalities with the gravity they deserve,” remarked a leader of a campaign group during a landmark gathering in London earlier this week.

The assembly, organized by a group running a “Suicide is Homicide” initiative to fight for change in the criminal justice system, brought together relatives who had suffered bereavement to suicide after domestic abuse.

Personal Stories of Tragedy

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

After her death, the individual was found guilty of coercive and controlling behavior and jailed for 41 months. He was subsequently jailed for three years and seven months after a another victim came forward 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 legal change to bring perpetrators accountable; however she then realized that laws were existing, they just were rarely applied to achieve convictions.

“I concluded it was not a fresh legislation I required as existing laws were in place, and after finding out how much my daughter had been failed before her death by the police and many other agencies, they had to fulfill their duties, and practices needed to change,” she explained.

“More than four dozen relatives have contacted me and only four of us have had a conviction,” she added. “I was astonished to see so many families who have been battling the police and CPS for years and getting no justice for their offspring or sibling and didn’t have a voice in case it affected inquiries that were not progressing.”

Another Tragic Case

One mother’s child Hannah passed away in May 2017, in what she called “the ultimate abusive action” in a prolonged pattern of mistreatment.

“Hannah was vibrant, she was caring,” she said. “She had great potential, and she was an exceptional, really loving mum to her two children, and she died by suicide after 24 months in a partnership where she was methodically broken down by her partner,” she explained.

“She was physically beaten, she was psychologically tortured, she was dominated and dismantled gradually until she was unable to envision a way forward. The individual who caused this walked free, because we label it suicide, we close the file and we proceed.

“Yet I was unable to continue,” 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 went to the police, when I begged them to look into what he had done to her, I was informed that there was no action that they were able to take.

“There was no investigation into her passing. The domestic violence fatality analysis, which I had to fight for, took five years and had no impact. A four day inquest found self-inflicted death, notwithstanding substantial proof over a very traumatic multi-day session of family violence and failings by various agencies.”

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

She emphasized the suicide is homicide movement was vital “since when someone takes their own life after they’ve suffered domestic abuse, we have to investigate it for what it truly represents, which is murder.

“We need to use the legislation we already possess effectively and it really isn’t happening at the moment, and we need to make perpetrators responsible for pushing their targets to suicide.

“We have the laws. We need the will, we need police to investigate properly. We need the prosecution authority to prosecute. We need the judiciary to understand that words and control can cause death just as much as hands and weapons.”

Government Reaction

At a second meeting in the House of Commons, led by a opposition politician, and attended by the government official, 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 culmination of in fact, somebody else’s violence, and these aren’t rare incidents.”

“The legal system is flawed, we are aware,” she stated. “Especially around homicide or unlawful killing, it is fragmented. 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, given the society we inhabit today.

“I’m not going to pretend that it’s going to be simple to fix. It is extremely complicated and difficult, especially when you consider the matter of homicide, but we acknowledge that it needs to be looked at.”

Prosecution Service Statement

A representative for the legal body commented: “Domestic abuse is a heinous offense and our legal officers are actively advised to consider murder and manslaughter charges in self-inflicted death instances where there is a established background of family violence or other manipulative conduct.

“We have in the past prosecuted a several individuals for causing the death of a partner they abused, including in proceedings which are ongoing.

“We are collaborating with law enforcement and other stakeholders to ensure these kinds of offences are well-understood – so that we can hold offenders to justice for the full extent of their crimes.”