Only 3% of suicides linked to domestic abuse in England and Wales over the past five years have resulted in any prosecution, according to data from the National Police Chiefs’ Council. Between 2020 and 2025, 553 people took their own lives after suspected abuse in an intimate relationship, but only 17 posthumous charges were brought.
The figures also revealed that in 2025, someone in an abusive relationship was more likely to die by suicide than be killed by their abuser, marking the third consecutive year this has been the case. The Guardian is investigating cases of women who take their own lives after prolonged domestic abuse, highlighting how alleged abusers are often not investigated after their partner’s death.
In March, Lee Milne became the first person in Britain convicted by a jury of killing a current or former partner who died by suicide after domestic abuse. His case was heard in Scotland, where a jury found him guilty of culpable homicide. In England and Wales, no manslaughter prosecution in a suicide linked to domestic abuse has resulted in a guilty verdict.
Nicole Jacobs, the domestic abuse commissioner for England and Wales, said there had been “tolerance of way too much variance” between police forces, with “not enough inquisitive investigation measures” in some areas. She noted that alleged perpetrators often control the narrative from the start, and that resource and capacity issues hold police back. Jacobs also cited cases where offenders kept victims’ mobile phones, leading to potential loss of crucial data, and falsely claimed victims were estranged from their families to discourage interviews.
Jacobs described the low number of prosecutions as “hugely concerning,” stressing that domestic abuse is “highly repetitive” and that perpetrators do not change without intervention. She called for more rigorous police oversight and noted that many families who approached police with evidence felt it was “near to impossible” to get attention from officers. Some campaigners have called for a new standalone offence of driving someone to suicide via domestic abuse, though Jacobs noted credible arguments both for and against legal change.
