First teenage suicide linked to domestic abuse recorded in England and Wales
A higher proportion of young people aged 16 to 19, 18.2%, were victims of domestic abuse compared to those aged 25 and older
A case of suicide following domestic abuse where both the victim and suspect were aged under 18 has been included in official police data for the first time.
Listen to this article
The tragedy was among 150 suspected cases where abuse victims ended their lives in the year to March 2025.
Assistant Commissioner Louisa Rolfe, who is the national policing lead for domestic abuse, said access to violent pornography and “toxic influencers” online may be fuelling abuse cases among teenagers aged 16 to 19.
According to the annual Crime Survey for England and Wales, in the year to March 2025 a higher proportion of young people aged 16 to 19, 18.2 per cent, were victims of domestic abuse compared to those aged 25 and older.
Speaking as an annual report on police recorded domestic homicides was published on Tuesday, Ms Rolfe said: “People are now much more likely to access violent pornography which normalises violence and behaviour in a relationship, and particularly non-fatal strangulation, (which is) hugely dangerous.
“We see the connection between the sort of sense of toxic influencers online and their sort of views that are promoted about women and women’s status in society.”
Read more: Iranian embassy calls on expats in UK to 'sacrifice' their lives 'for the homeland' in new campaign
The figures published on Tuesday show that a higher proportion of police recorded domestic homicides were cases where a victim took their own life after suffering abuse, compared to those where a partner killed the victim.
In the five years of the annual Domestic Homicide Project, which analyses police recorded domestic homicides, 414 were intimate partner homicide, 227 were adult familial homicide, 553 were suicide following domestic abuse, 131 were unexpected deaths, 86 child deaths and 41 classed as other.
There have been four reported cases of suicides where the victim was under 16 and the perpetrator was over 18 – three an adult family member, and one an intimate partner.
Ms Rolfe said some detectives are overwhelmed by their workload and therefore more likely to close cases as suicide without further investigation.
“Investigators are dealing with sustained exposure to trauma because of the number of cases they’re dealing with.
“We’re seeing that sometimes that’s affecting their investigative decisions in terms of, if there’s a case that on a knife-edge, and it could be dealt with as a straightforward suicide, or it could be a long, protracted investigation, when it’s one of 20 or 30 cases on their books, (there is) the motivation to close it early.”
Campaigners want a new law to make suicide following domestic abuse a specific criminal offence separate from manslaughter, to make it easier for juries to understand.
Frank Mullane from support service Advocacy After Fatal Domestic Abuse said: “We need a new law which separates suicide from domestic abuse, from manslaughter.
“I’m speculating that the average juror sees manslaughter as maybe a punch-up in a car park, other types of killing.
“I think if we separate suicide from domestic abuse, it will help educate the public.”
In the past five years, there have been 17 cases where domestic abuse charges have been brought after a victim took their own life, three of which investigated possible manslaughter.
There are expected to be seven more posthumous cases, and the number of these investigations is expected to rise.
In total, 1,452 deaths linked to domestic abuse were recorded over a five-year period, and 347 deaths in the year to March 2025.
This is an increase of 85 deaths from the previous year, most of which are suspected suicides following domestic abuse.
Police believe this is down to increased recording of such cases rather than a rise in the number of crimes being committed.
Minister for Safeguarding and Violence Against Women and Girls Jess Phillips said: “Every life lost to domestic abuse is a devastating tragedy, and my thoughts are with families and loved ones left grieving.
“I welcome this important report, which highlights the link between domestic abuse and suicide, and reinforces the need for tougher action to stop perpetrators causing harm.
“Our Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy sets out how we are rooting out the causes of domestic abuse-related deaths and deploying the full power of the state to crack down on these vile crimes.”