Call for new law to punish domestic abusers who drive their victims to suicide

Domestic abuse campaigners are calling for a new law to ensure perpetrators who drive their victims to suicide face justice.

More domestic abuse victims are ending their own lives than the number killed by an intimate partner.

But while our understanding of fatal domestic abuse has grown, there has only ever been one successful prosecution for manslaughter where a victim has killed themselves.

Frank Mullane, who set up the charity Advocacy After Fatal Domestic Abuse (AAFDA) following the murders of his sister and nephew by a former partner, believes new legislation may be needed to help juries understand the links between domestic abuse and suicide.

He told Metro: ‘We need a serious debate first and probably a new law which enables jurors to clearly see causation so that perpetrators of domestic abuse which leads to suicide are fully held to account.

‘Without a new law to clarify this culpability, I fear that many perpetrators will evade appropriate criminal accountability and victims’ families will have to continue to live with the pain of justice not being done.’

Under the current legal framework, an unlawful act is required for jurors to be able to convict on a charge of manslaughter.

Suspects are often charged with both manslaughter and a separate offence, such as coercive control, meaning there is still some criminal liability even in cases where the more serious charge fails.

This was the case in relation to the death of Kiena Dawes, who was just 23 when she took her own life after suffering years of horrendous abuse.

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She left her nine-month-old baby with a friend with a note on her phone saying: ‘I was murdered. Ryan Wellings killed me. He ruined every bit of strength I had left. I didn’t deserve it.’

Wellings was found guilty of coercive and controlling behaviour and assault but cleared of manslaughter.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and senior police chiefs later pledged that more domestic abusers whose victims die by suicide will be charged with manslaughter.

But Mr Mullane said: ‘The current legal framework does not enable the families of domestic abuse victims who die by suicide to achieve justice.

‘The current law needs a refresh. It reads as if written for legal people and jurors are usually not legal people.

‘We need a new law which enables jurors to clearly see causation so that perpetrators of domestic abuse which causes suicide, are fully held to account.’

Sarah Dangar, a violence against women and girls consultant undertaking a PhD on suicide and domestic abuse, previously told Metro there is often a wealth of information at our disposal to help determine whether abuse has taken place before someone takes their own life.

She went on: ‘Research undertaken by myself and colleagues showed that these victims are not invisible, many are in plain sight of agencies.

‘However, what we found is a lack of understanding from professionals around domestic abuse, suicidality and indeed – and critically – the relationship between the two.’

She added: ‘Work by the Kent Suicide Prevention team highlighted a number of reasons why a woman might attempt to die by suicide in the context of domestic abuse, including not necessarily a desire to die but to escape the abuse she is being subjected to.’

Tim Woodhouse, Suicide Prevention Programme Manager at Kent County Council, said: ‘Every individual is different, but we have found some common themes as to why victims of domestic abuse may consider suicide.

‘Some believe that they are going to be murdered by their perpetrator so they attempt suicide as a way of controlling the way they die – even though they don’t want to stop living.

‘Others attempt suicide because they believe the lies that their perpetrator tells them, for example that their family hates them and they are worthless.

‘While others feel so isolated, trapped and helpless, that they simply can’t see another way of making the abuse stop.’

Mr Mullane suggested juries should be able to hear from experts that can help them to ‘really understand the effects of domestic abuse’ and consider a law written in plain language to help them reach ‘the right verdict’.

‘Given the Government’s pledge to halve violence against women and girls, they should bring big, big resources, sustained over time, to helping prevent domestic abuse and suicides and unexplained deaths,’ he said.

‘We know from National Police data that these deaths outnumber homicides.’

Jess Phillips, minister for safeguarding and violence against women and girls, told Metro: ‘Every death linked to domestic abuse is a devastating tragedy.

‘We must do more to understand and prevent them, and ensure perpetrators are held to account.

‘As part of our mission to halve violence against women and girls within a decade, we are reforming Domestic Homicide Reviews and creating a new oversight board with publicly appointed members to speed up the review process.

‘But more needs to be done. Our upcoming Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy will set out concrete actions to strengthen our response to all domestic abuse-related deaths.’