Only 3 per cent of abusers charged after victim suicide

Only 3 per cent of domestic abusers whose victims took their own lives have faced criminal charges in the past four years, figures show.

- AMY-CLARE MARTIN

A report found that the number of victims driven to suicide has outstripped those killed by their partner for the second year running, yet such abusers are still rarely held to account.

A tragic 98 victims took their own lives between April 2023 and March 2024, compared with 80 who were killed by a current or former partner and 39 who were killed by a family member. This brings the total number of domestic-abuse-related deaths to 1,012 since 2020, according to the government-funded Domestic Homicide Project, including 354 suspected suicides following domestic abuse.

Nine in 10 perpetrators in the cases where victims are suspected to have died by suicide were known to police as potential abusers. Despite this, only 12 have faced criminal charges and only one was charged with manslaughter over their victim’s death. Other charges included common assault, controlling or coercive behaviour, actual bodily harm (ABH) and harassment.

Police have said they expect manslaughter charges to increase with new guidance that urges officers to check for a history of domestic abuse when they respond to unexpected deaths.