From Newsgroup: uk.legal.moderated

It seems there is a campaign now to investigate all cases of suicide as potential homicides, on the basis that women (could be men, but
obviously the emphasis is on women) can be driven to suicide by coercive
and violent partners.

I think it's quite unworkable and would waste a lot of police time.
Suicide is usually caused by a combination of factors, sometimes even
grief because the violent partner is now leaving the relationship.
Surely the police should devote more resources to protecting living
victims of abuse and coercion, rather that try to build a homicide case,
which is usually going to be very flimsy, against a perpetrator.

And of course the stereotypical perpetrator is male, maybe on anabolic steroids, maybe with an addiction. What if actually it's an elderly
parent of either sex? Is it important to prove that the victim took his
or her life because of a nagging overprotective mother who should
therefore be convicted of homicide?

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/feb/18/calls-grow-suicides-linked-domestic-abuse-treated-potential-homicides

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From Newsgroup: uk.legal.moderated

On 18 Feb 2026 at 11:01:05 GMT, The Todal wrote:

It seems there is a campaign now to investigate all cases of suicide as potential homicides, on the basis that women (could be men, but
obviously the emphasis is on women) can be driven to suicide by coercive
and violent partners.

I think it's quite unworkable and would waste a lot of police time.
Suicide is usually caused by a combination of factors, sometimes even
grief because the violent partner is now leaving the relationship.
Surely the police should devote more resources to protecting living
victims of abuse and coercion, rather that try to build a homicide case, which is usually going to be very flimsy, against a perpetrator.

The police could certainly pick at the low hanging fruit - such as cases (mentioned) of investigations of domestic violence curtailed by the suicide.

And of course the stereotypical perpetrator is male, maybe on anabolic steroids, maybe with an addiction. What if actually it's an elderly
parent of either sex? Is it important to prove that the victim took his
or her life because of a nagging overprotective mother who should
therefore be convicted of homicide?

Coercive and violent isn't the same as nagging. That's a different thing.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/feb/18/calls-grow-suicides-linked-domestic-abuse-treated-potential-homicides

--
Cheers, Rob, Sheffield UK

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From Newsgroup: uk.legal.moderated

On 18/02/2026 11:12, RJH wrote:

On 18 Feb 2026 at 11:01:05 GMT, The Todal wrote:

It seems there is a campaign now to investigate all cases of suicide as
potential homicides, on the basis that women (could be men, but
obviously the emphasis is on women) can be driven to suicide by coercive
and violent partners.

I think it's quite unworkable and would waste a lot of police time.
Suicide is usually caused by a combination of factors, sometimes even
grief because the violent partner is now leaving the relationship.
Surely the police should devote more resources to protecting living
victims of abuse and coercion, rather that try to build a homicide case,
which is usually going to be very flimsy, against a perpetrator.

The police could certainly pick at the low hanging fruit - such as cases (mentioned) of investigations of domestic violence curtailed by the suicide.

And of course the stereotypical perpetrator is male, maybe on anabolic
steroids, maybe with an addiction. What if actually it's an elderly
parent of either sex? Is it important to prove that the victim took his
or her life because of a nagging overprotective mother who should
therefore be convicted of homicide?

Coercive and violent isn't the same as nagging. That's a different thing.

Of course. But the issue is actually wider - it's "domestic abuse". So
how is that defined?

The NHS has attempted to define it.

https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/getting-help-for-domestic-violence/

So, how many of those examples by themselves would represent domestic
abuse that could theoretically lead to suicide?

quote

Emotional abuse

Does your partner or someone you live with ever:

belittle you, or put you down?
blame you for the abuse or arguments?
deny that abuse is happening, or downplay it?
isolate you from your family and friends?
stop you going to college or work?
make unreasonable demands for your attention?
accuse you of flirting or having affairs?
tell you what to wear, who to see, where to go, and what to think?
control your money, or not give you enough to buy food or other
essential things?
monitor your social media profiles, share photos or videos of you
without your consent or use GPS locators to know where you are?

Threats and intimidation

Does your partner or someone you live with ever:

threaten to hurt or kill you?
destroy things that belong to you?
stand over you, invade your personal space?
threaten to kill themselves or the children?
read your emails, texts or letters?
harass or follow you?

unquote

So, if your mum or dad (or partner of either sex) keeps putting you
down, makes unreasonable demands for your attention, tells you what you
should be wearing, reads your emails, threatens to kill themselves (not
you) - and if you then kill yourself, is that deemed to be caused by the domestic abuse? What evidence would be required, short of past
complaints to the police? Maybe your close friend could tell the court
how badly you have been treated, but would that be objective and
reliable evidence?

I am sure there may be extreme cases but even those would have
evidential difficulties. How often could you ever prove homicide beyond reasonable doubt? How much time and trouble would it involve to gather evidence, trawling through messages and social media and interviewing
numerous members of friends and family?

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/feb/18/calls-grow-suicides-linked-domestic-abuse-treated-potential-homicides

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From Newsgroup: uk.legal.moderated

In message <mvlkfhF80c2U1@mid.individual.net>, at 11:01:05 on Wed, 18
Feb 2026, The Todal <the_todal@icloud.com> remarked:

It seems there is a campaign now to investigate all cases of suicide as >potential homicides, on the basis that women (could be men, but
obviously the emphasis is on women) can be driven to suicide by
coercive and violent partners.

I think it's quite unworkable and would waste a lot of police time.
Suicide is usually caused by a combination of factors, sometimes even
grief because the violent partner is now leaving the relationship.
Surely the police should devote more resources to protecting living
victims of abuse and coercion, rather that try to build a homicide
case, which is usually going to be very flimsy, against a perpetrator.

And of course the stereotypical perpetrator is male, maybe on anabolic >steroids, maybe with an addiction. What if actually it's an elderly
parent of either sex? Is it important to prove that the victim took his
or her life because of a nagging overprotective mother who should
therefore be convicted of homicide?

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/feb/18/calls-grow-suicides-link >ed-domestic-abuse-treated-potential-homicides

There is already a process called "Domestic Homicide Review", which
includes suicides where there's a suspicion of violence, abuse or
neglect, where co-ercive control is simply one form of abuse.

Co-ercive control is quite well defined (my late wife wrote much of the material) and the patterns of behaviour are often fairly easy to
recognise.

For example, not allowing the woman to have any financial assets and
then handing out housekeeping money piecemeal with a demand for receipts
for every penny.

One lady whose case we investigated had to ask her husband for the loan
of a toilet roll every time she went to the bathroom, and apart from the school run and closely monitored grocery shopping, wasn't allowed to
leave the house. There was also almost no food in the house, just a loaf
of bread, a packet of cornflakes and some milk. And of course, he'd confiscated her passport.
--
Roland Perry

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