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Each self-inflicted death in which the victim had experienced domestic violence must be considered a possible murder case, as per calls from campaigners who seek to make perpetrators accountable for the devastating consequences of their actions.

This step is essential because police and prosecutors are failing to bring perpetrators to justice in cases of self-inflicted death after domestic abuse.

“In case after case, there is widespread breakdown, particularly within the criminal justice system, to examine these deaths with the seriousness they deserve,” remarked a co-director of a campaign group during a landmark meeting in Westminster recently.

The meeting, arranged by a group running a “Self-Inflicted Death is Murder” campaign to advocate for reform in the legal framework, united families who had lost loved ones to self-inflicted death after domestic abuse.

Personal Stories of Loss

One mother experienced the death of her child Chloe Holland in spring 2023. Prior to her passing, Chloe had informed her former partner to police, submitting a lengthy recorded statement as proof against him.

Following her passing, the perpetrator was convicted of coercive and controlling behavior and jailed for 41 months. He was subsequently jailed for an additional term after a second woman came forward to report that she had been in a violent and abusive relationship with him.

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

“I decided it was not a new law I needed as current statutes were in place, and after learning how much my daughter had been failed before her death by the authorities and many other agencies, they needed to fulfill their duties, and things needed to change,” she said.

“Over 47 families have found me and just a handful of us have had a guilty verdict,” she added. “I was so shocked to see so many families who have been fighting the authorities and CPS for years and receiving no resolution for their child or brother or sister and could not speak out in case it impacted inquiries that were not progressing.”

Further Heartbreaking Account

One mother’s daughter Hannah died in spring 2017, in what she described as “the ultimate abusive action” in a prolonged pattern of mistreatment.

“She was energetic, she was caring,” she said. “She had great potential, and she was an amazing, deeply devoted mum to her two children, and she took her own life after two years in a partnership where she was systematically destroyed by her partner,” she said.

“She endured physical assaults, she was mentally tormented, she was controlled and dismantled gradually until she could not see a way forward. The individual who did this to her 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 let go. In truth, she did not merely take her own life. She was murdered. Her death was gradual and deliberately over a two year period, and when I went to the police, when I pleaded with them to look into what he had done to her, I was informed that there was nothing that they could do.

“There was no investigation 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 death by suicide, notwithstanding substantial proof over a extremely distressing four day period of domestic abuse and shortcomings by multiple services.”

The parent informed the gathering that for a decade she has “struggled against 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 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 moment, 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 prosecution authority to take legal action. We need the judiciary to recognize that words and control can cause death just as much as physical force and arms.”

Government Reaction

At a second meeting in the House of Commons, chaired by a opposition politician, and attended by the government official, the grieving families again shared their experiences.

A parliamentary under-secretary informed the assembly: “Such fatalities are often dismissed as if they were their decision, they chose to do this, when, reality, these were the result of actually, another person’s abuse, and these aren’t rare incidents.”

“Our law is broken, we know that,” she stated. “Especially around murder or unlawful killing, it is fragmented. It lacks statutory basis anyway, it has been shaped with traditional legal customs 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 easy to resolve. It is incredibly complex and difficult, especially when you consider the matter of murder, but we acknowledge that it requires examination.”

Prosecution Service Statement

A representative for the prosecution service commented: “Family violence is a terrible offense and our prosecutors are regularly instructed to consider homicide allegations in self-inflicted death instances where there is a known context of family violence or other manipulative conduct.

“We have previously charged a several individuals for leading to the fatality of a partner they abused, encompassing in cases which are currently active.

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