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Each self-inflicted death in which the deceased had experienced abuse at home must be treated as a possible murder case, as per calls from campaigners who seek to make perpetrators responsible for the catastrophic consequences of their actions.

This step is necessary because law enforcement are not doing enough to hold offenders to justice in cases of self-inflicted death following family violence.

“Time and again, there is systemic and structural failure, particularly within the legal system, to scrutinise these fatalities with the gravity they warrant,” remarked a leader of a advocacy organization at a landmark gathering in Westminster recently.

The meeting, arranged by a group leading a “Self-Inflicted Death is Murder” campaign to fight for reform in the legal framework, brought together relatives who had suffered bereavement to self-inflicted death following domestic abuse.

Personal Stories of Tragedy

One mother experienced the death of her child her 23-year-old daughter in March 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 individual was convicted of coercive and controlling behavior and jailed for 41 months. He was later jailed for an additional term after a second woman came forward to disclose that she had been in a harmful partnership with him.

In the wake of her loss, the parent decided to campaign for a new law to hold offenders accountable; however she then realized that laws were already in place, they just were rarely applied to secure prosecutions.

“I concluded it was not a fresh legislation I needed as existing laws were already there, and after learning how much my child had been let down previous to her death by the police and numerous services, they needed to fulfill their duties, and things required reform,” 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 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 could not speak out in case it impacted investigations that were not progressing.”

Further Heartbreaking Account

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 prolonged pattern of mistreatment.

“Hannah was energetic, she was caring,” she said. “She had great potential, and she was an amazing, really loving mum to her kids, and she died by suicide after 24 months in a relationship where she was systematically destroyed by her companion,” she said.

“She endured physical assaults, she was mentally tormented, she was controlled and dismantled piece by piece until she was unable to envision a path ahead. The individual who caused this went unpunished, because we label it suicide, we conclude the case and we proceed.

“But I could not move on,” she remarked, “and I have not managed to let go. Honestly, Hannah didn’t just die by suicide. She was killed. Her death was gradual and deliberately over a 24-month span, and when I went to the police, when I pleaded with them to investigate what he had done to her, I was informed that there was no action that they could do.

“No inquiry was conducted into her passing. The domestic homicide review, which I had to fight for, took five years and changed nothing. A four day inquest found death by suicide, notwithstanding substantial proof over a very traumatic multi-day session of domestic abuse and shortcomings by multiple services.”

The mother told the meeting that for eight years she has “struggled against a system that refuses to see what is right in front of it”.

She said the self-inflicted death is murder movement was critical “because when someone dies by suicide after they’ve suffered family violence, we have to examine it for what it really is, which is homicide.

“We need to apply the laws we currently have effectively and it is not occurring at the present, and we need to make perpetrators responsible for pushing their targets to suicide.

“We have the laws. We require determination, we need law enforcement to investigate properly. We need the Crown Prosecution Service to take legal action. We need the judiciary to recognize that words and control can cause death just as much as hands and weapons.”

Political Response

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

A junior minister told the meeting: “Such fatalities are often written off as if they were their decision, they chose to do this, when, reality, these were the result of in fact, somebody else’s violence, and these are not isolated stories.”

“The legal system is flawed, we know that,” she stated. “Particularly around murder or unlawful killing, it is piecemeal. It’s not written in statute regardless, it has been developed with common law practices for generations, 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 challenging, particularly when you look at the matter of homicide, but we acknowledge that it requires examination.”

Prosecution Service Statement

A representative for the prosecution service said: “Domestic abuse is a heinous offense and our legal officers are actively advised to consider homicide allegations in self-inflicted death instances where there is a known context of family violence 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 ongoing.

“We are also working with law enforcement and other stakeholders to guarantee these kinds of offences are clearly recognized – so that we can hold offenders to justice for the complete scope of their wrongdoings.”