Suicides Connected to Family Violence Should Be Investigated as Possible Murders, Urge UK Relatives

Every suicide where the victim had endured abuse at home must be treated as a potential murder case, as per demands from advocates who aim to make perpetrators accountable for the devastating consequences of their behavior.

This step is necessary because police and prosecutors are not doing enough to bring perpetrators accountable in instances of suicide following family violence.

“Time and again, there is systemic and structural failure, particularly within the criminal justice system, to scrutinise these fatalities with the seriousness they warrant,” remarked a co-director of a campaign group during a landmark gathering in London earlier this week.

The assembly, arranged by a group leading a “Suicide is Homicide” initiative to advocate for reform in the legal framework, brought together relatives who had lost loved ones to self-inflicted death after family violence.

Personal Stories of Loss

One mother lost her daughter Chloe Holland in March 2023. Before her death, the young woman had informed her ex-boyfriend to police, submitting a lengthy recorded statement as evidence about his conduct.

Following her passing, the perpetrator was convicted of manipulative and domineering conduct and imprisoned for 41 months. He was subsequently jailed for an additional term after a second woman stepped up to report that she had been in a violent and abusive relationship with him.

In the wake of her loss, the parent decided to campaign for a new law to hold offenders to justice; yet she then discovered that laws were existing, they just were rarely applied to achieve convictions.

“I concluded it was not a new law I required as existing laws were in place, and after finding out how much my child had been failed before her taking her life by the police and numerous services, they needed to fulfill their duties, and practices needed to change,” she said.

“More than four dozen relatives have contacted 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 battling the police and CPS for years and getting no justice for their child or brother or sister and didn’t have a voice in case it affected inquiries that weren’t possibly going anywhere.”

Another Tragic Case

One mother’s daughter Hannah died in May 2017, in what she called “the ultimate abusive action” in a campaign of abuse.

“She was vibrant, she was loving,” she said. “She had great potential, and she was an exceptional, really loving mother to her kids, and she died by suicide after 24 months in a partnership where she was systematically destroyed by her partner,” she said.

“She endured physical assaults, she was mentally tormented, she was dominated and broken down piece by piece until she was unable to envision a path ahead. The man who did this to her went unpunished, because we call it self-inflicted death, we conclude the case and we proceed.

“But I could not move on,” she remarked, “and I haven’t been able to move on. Honestly, Hannah didn’t just die by suicide. 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 told that there was no action that they could do.

“No inquiry was conducted into her death. The domestic homicide review, which I had to struggle to obtain, required five years and changed nothing. A lengthy coroner’s hearing determined death by suicide, despite substantial proof over a extremely distressing multi-day session of domestic abuse and shortcomings by multiple services.”

The parent told the meeting that for eight years she has “struggled against a establishment that ignores what is obvious”.

She said the suicide is homicide movement was critical “since when someone 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 already possess properly and it really isn’t happening at the moment, and we need to hold abusers accountable for pushing their targets to suicide.

“We have the laws. We require determination, we need police to conduct thorough inquiries. We need the prosecution authority to take legal action. We need the judiciary to understand that verbal abuse and manipulation can cause death just as much as physical force and arms.”

Government Reaction

At a follow-up gathering in the Parliament, chaired by a opposition politician, and attended by the safeguarding minister, the bereaved relatives again shared their experiences.

A parliamentary under-secretary told the meeting: “Such fatalities are often dismissed as if they were their own choice, they opted for this, when, in truth, these were the result of in fact, another person’s abuse, and these aren’t rare incidents.”

“The legal system is flawed, we are aware,” she said. “Especially around murder or unlawful killing, it is fragmented. It’s not written in statute anyway, it has been shaped with common law practices for generations, and it is no longer fit for purpose, quite frankly, given the society we currently live in.

“I will not claim that it’s going to be simple to resolve. It is extremely complicated and challenging, particularly when you look at the matter of homicide, but we acknowledge that it requires examination.”

Prosecution Service Statement

A spokesperson for the prosecution service said: “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 family violence or other controlling or coercive behavior.

“We have previously charged a number of defendants for causing the death of a partner they abused, including in cases which are currently active.

“We are collaborating with police and other parties to guarantee these kinds of offences are well-understood – so that we can bring perpetrators to justice for the complete scope of their wrongdoings.”