Self-inflicted deaths Linked to Family Violence Should Be Investigated as Potential Murders, Demand UK Relatives

Every suicide where the victim had endured domestic violence must be treated as a possible murder case, as per demands from advocates who aim to hold abusers responsible for the catastrophic impact of their actions.

This move is essential because police and prosecutors are failing to hold offenders accountable in cases of suicide following domestic abuse.

“In case after case, there is systemic and structural failure, particularly within the criminal justice system, to scrutinise these fatalities with the gravity they warrant,” remarked a co-director of a advocacy organization during a significant meeting in Westminster recently.

The assembly, organized by a organization running a “Suicide is Homicide” initiative to fight for change in the legal framework, united relatives who had suffered bereavement to suicide after domestic abuse.

Personal Stories of Loss

One mother experienced the death of her child her 23-year-old daughter in spring 2023. Before her death, the young woman had informed her former partner to police, submitting a lengthy recorded statement as proof against him.

After her death, the perpetrator was convicted of manipulative and domineering conduct and jailed for 41 months. He was later jailed for an additional term after a another victim came forward to report that she had been in a harmful partnership with him.

In the wake of her loss, the mother chose to advocate for a legal change to hold offenders accountable; yet she then realized that laws were existing, they just weren’t often being used to secure prosecutions.

“I concluded it wasn’t a new law I needed as current statutes were in place, 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 practices needed to change,” she explained.

“More than four dozen relatives have found me and just a handful of us have had a guilty verdict,” she continued. “I was so shocked to see such a large number who have been fighting the authorities and CPS for years and getting no justice for their offspring or sibling and could not speak out in case it impacted inquiries that were not progressing.”

Another Tragic Case

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

“She was vibrant, she was loving,” she said. “She had great potential, and she was an amazing, deeply devoted mother to her two children, and she died by suicide after 24 months in a partnership where she was systematically destroyed by her companion,” she said.

“She was physically beaten, she was psychologically tortured, she was dominated and broken down piece by piece until she was unable to envision a path ahead. The man who caused this walked free, because we call it suicide, we close the file and we move on.

“Yet I was unable to continue,” she said, “and I have not managed to let go. In truth, she didn’t just die by suicide. She was killed. She was killed slowly and deliberately over a two year period, 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 violence fatality analysis, which I had to fight for, required five years and had no impact. A lengthy coroner’s hearing found self-inflicted death, notwithstanding huge evidence over a extremely distressing multi-day session of domestic abuse and shortcomings by various agencies.”

The mother told the meeting that for a decade she has “struggled against a establishment that ignores what is right in front of it”.

She emphasized the self-inflicted death is murder campaign was vital “since when someone dies by suicide after they’ve endured domestic abuse, we have to examine it for what it really is, which is murder.

“We need to apply the laws we currently have effectively and it really isn’t happening at the moment, and we need to make perpetrators responsible for driving their victims to death.

“We have the laws. We need the will, we need police to conduct thorough inquiries. We need the Crown Prosecution Service to take legal action. We need judges to recognize that words and control can cause death equally to hands and weapons.”

Government Reaction

At a second meeting in the Parliament, chaired by a Labour MP, and including 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, in truth, these were the culmination of actually, somebody else’s violence, and these are not rare incidents.”

“The legal system is flawed, we know that,” she stated. “Especially around murder or manslaughter, it is piecemeal. It’s not written in statute regardless, it has been developed with traditional legal customs for centuries, 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 homicide, but we recognize that it needs to be looked at.”

Prosecution Service Statement

A representative for the legal body commented: “Family violence is a heinous crime and our legal officers are actively advised to evaluate murder and manslaughter charges in suicide cases 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 causing the death of a companion they mistreated, including in cases which are ongoing.

“We are also working with law enforcement and other parties to guarantee these types of crimes are clearly recognized – so that we can hold offenders to justice for the full extent of their crimes.”