What started as a WhatsApp group for dozens of grieving families has ended up gathering enough momentum to reach Westminster.

Warning: This article contains content you may find distressing.

The parents and relatives of loved ones who have taken their own life following domestic abuse are angry, at a loss, but up for a fight.

Sharon Holland is among those furious at how difficult it is to hold a potential perpetrator accountable for their loved ones’ deaths.

Her daughter, Chloe, died by suicide in 2023 after being in a controlling relationship.

Chloe, 23, suffered months of torment at the hands of her former partner. At the time of his conviction, police said Chloe was a victim of a “horrific campaign of coercive and controlling behaviour”.

Two years on, Ms Holland has shared experiences and developed bonds with families who have been through the same trauma.

But charges and convictions for those potentially responsible are rare. That’s despite figures from the Domestic Homicide Project, funded by the Home Office and led by the National Police Chiefs’ Council, showing more domestic abuse victims take their own lives in England and Wales than are killed by their partner.

There were 1,012 domestic abuse-related deaths in England and Wales between 2020 and 2024, of which 354 were suspected suicides compared to 332 homicides.

Families at ‘breaking point’

Ms Holland’s group are now calling for “justice for all victims of domestic abuse-related suicides” by bringing their campaign to Westminster today.

Asked if this is a movement born out of families being at breaking point, Ms Holland said: “Absolutely.

“All of us mums or sisters all feel the same, that we don’t want this happening to someone else. It’s being dragged out for years and during that time the mums are becoming more and more ill, their health is going downhill, they’re stressed out all the time, on alert, and they just can’t get anywhere with it.

“There’s so many warnings with the police or with the NHS with various agencies that this could not end well for their daughters, and unfortunately it takes the person to die, and then we find out what the failings are.”

Families who believe there has been foul play, or know the abuse their loved ones suffered at the hands of an intimate partner contributed to them taking their own lives, say it’s difficult to be taken seriously.

“The majority of them have been fighting for five years,” Ms Holland said. “They’ve been waiting for the police to get back to them or waiting for the CPS to charge.

“One lady has just waited five years, only to finally hear back from the CPS only to find out they’re not going to charge.

“So that poor woman’s health has gone downhill, fighting for her daughter, who she suspects was a staged suicide and got nowhere.”

‘Heartbreaking’ for families

Families are often fending for themselves, according to Pragna Patel, co-founder of Project Resist, a charity that supports people affected by domestic abuse and violence.

She said families “are having to navigate the system entirely on their own as they try to find out the circumstances in which their loved ones took their lives and to find out how and why this happened”.

“It’s really heartbreaking to see these families knocking at the doors of the police, knocking at the door of coroners, saying: ‘We know these deaths are suspicious, we know there is a history of coercive and controlling behaviour and domestic abuse behind these deaths, and we want you to investigate.’

“On the whole, families are met with a culture of indifference, apathy and ignorance. They’re just not getting the attention they need.”

‘We must do more,’ says minister

Ms Holland and a host of other families will gather in parliament later to meet safeguarding minister Jess Phillips.

Ahead of the meeting, Ms Phillips told Sky News: “Every death linked to domestic abuse is a tragedy. We must do more to prevent them, and I will be meeting Project Resist to discuss how we can hold perpetrators to account more effectively.

“We are funding the Domestic Homicide Project to capture information on domestic abuse related deaths, including suicides, from all 43 police forces in England and Wales to improve our understanding of this issue.

“But more needs to be done. Our upcoming Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy will set out our plans to strengthen our response to all domestic abuse related deaths.”

Sky News understands there are a number of active cases being pursued by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).

Part of prosecutors’ assessment of a case includes developing an understanding of the relationship history between the victim and a potential suspect and trying to understand the victim’s state of mind before their death.

But they are relying on evidence and witness statements that need to be taken in a timely manner.

They say they are raising awareness through tailored training about the links between domestic abuse and suicide, so officers are better equipped to exercise “professional curiosity”.

Ahead of the campaign’s launch, a spokesperson for the CPS said: “Domestic abuse is a heinous crime and our prosecutors are actively advised to consider murder and manslaughter charges in suicide cases where there is a known context of domestic abuse or other controlling or coercive behaviour.

“We have previously charged a number of defendants for causing the death of a partner they abused, including in proceedings which are currently active.

“We are also working with police and other stakeholders to ensure these kinds of offences are well-understood – so that we can bring perpetrators to justice for the full extent of their crimes.”

‘You cannot move forward’

Families so far have had to rely on the inquest to scrutinise the circumstances of their loved one’s death.

Chloe died two years ago and hers is yet to happen.

Ms Holland: “The way all this drags out, you cannot sit down, move forward and just grieve. You’re constantly on high alert, fighting everyone, and just hoping that it’ll be over soon.”

A delay for answers and further delay for grief.

Anyone feeling emotionally distressed or suicidal can call Samaritans for help on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org in the UK. In the US, call the Samaritans branch in your area or 1 (800) 273-TALK

A prominent expert in recovering stolen works of art has told Sky News it was “a matter of time” before the Louvre was targeted – and UK museums could be next.

Christopher Marinello says gangs have been emboldened to strike because “law enforcement has been driven into the ground”.

And while headlines have focused on thieves making off with priceless jewellery from an iconic French institution, he warns this problem isn’t confined to Paris.

He said: “There are gangs operating all over Europe and not enough is being done to stop them … this was only a matter of time, they’ve been hitting small museums.

“If they can hit the Louvre successfully, they can hit anything. Do you know how many museums there are in the UK?”

At the start of October, at the St Fagans National Museum of History in Wales, it took just four minutes for audacious thieves to swipe irreplaceable Bronze Age jewellery.

He says gangs are targeting gold “just to melt it down” and diamonds for their value – “with no regard for the integrity of the artworks and the cultural heritage that they are destroying”.

A spokesperson for the museum has said: “We sympathise deeply with our friends at the Louvre … it emphasises the increased risk to organisations like ours … this highlights the dilemma we face between having items on display for people to enjoy and learn from – or keeping them locked away.”

Mr Marinello, who investigates art crimes that the police aren’t pursuing, says institutions and stately homes urgently need to wake up to what’s happening.

“They need to start building vaults for these objects because otherwise they’re going to be taken and melted down and used to buy Lamborghinis or drugs,” he warned.

“If the smaller museums can’t afford it, perhaps they’re going to have to consolidate collections to museums that can handle it.”

Read more:
Staff ‘repeatedly warned about security shortcomings’
‘Race against time’ to recover ‘priceless’ jewels

‘You can’t trust anyone’

Mr Marinello went on to warn that gangs are becoming “more brazen” – with the Louvre targeted despite the security measures it had in place.

“The system is not working … the penalties are not strong enough … police are frustrated, prosecutors say the same thing because there’s nowhere to put these people.”

The art recovery expert says he’s concerned how funding cutbacks are making our museums more vulnerable to those who recognise that the obvious rewards outweigh the risks.

“These museums are designed to preserve and protect our cultural heritage, and they need to be properly funded to do that job,” he added. “They need to be able to stay one step ahead of the criminals.”

“This is not the 1950s any more, you can’t trust anyone. These items are so valuable, and gold is at an all-time high.

“[Thieves] don’t care if an item belonged to Napoleon III, it means nothing to them. All they care about is quick cash.”

Face masks, hand sanitisers and windows wide open in the height of winter.

Teachers were not allowed to move around the classroom, there were bubbles for different year groups and testing kits distributed to all children and families… and the list goes on and on.

These were just some of the challenges school teachers faced on a daily basis as the pandemic took hold.

The valiant efforts made by school teachers and school leaders to maintain bubbles in schools simply did not matter.

As soon as children were outside, they all got the bus or the train home together – allowing the virus to spread.

The then prime minister, Boris Johnson, will today give evidence to the UK COVID-19 Inquiry – specifically on the impact of the pandemic on children and young people, as part of Module 8 of the independent public hearings.

Teachers constantly playing catch-up

The chaos caused by his government quickly changing rules, and a lack of planning, didn’t help the situation teachers faced.

That summer saw A-level results calculated using an algorithm, which downgraded 40% of teacher assessments.

On 13 August 2020, then education secretary Sir Gavin Williamson defended the grading system. Just days later, on 17 August, he U-turned and allowed pupils to receive their teacher-assessed grades.

Meanwhile, the government had two big school holidays, summer 2020 and Christmas, in which they could have installed air purifiers and implemented the sanitising of school buildings ahead of new terms beginning.

Instead, we had “Eat Out to Help Out”.

On 3 January 2021, Mr Johnson said that “schools were safe” – as he warned of tightening restrictions in the wake of rising coronavirus cases.

Just a day later, Mr Johnson announced schools would close from 5 January.

Over nine million children went to school for a single day after the Christmas holidays – sharing their respective germs with their classmates.

Then they went home to share them with their own families, parents and vulnerable grandparents.

Teachers felt frustrated they were constantly playing catch-up, as instructions from the government changed sporadically and were often unclear, under-resourced and under-funded.

Struggles of learning online

Online learning was another monumental challenge for teachers.

Despite being established for schools and families, many children didn’t have the necessary digital access; they were sharing devices with siblings and parents who were now also having to work from home.

While online learning posed its own challenges, cameras on/off, microphones on/off, children not able to join, unreliable internet connection, among other difficulties.

Online lessons were particularly challenging. I recall reading A Christmas Carol to a class that were virtually unresponsive bar one or two pupils who, I think, felt sorry for me.

Most, if not all, of the children’s cameras were off, and many children were not interacting online.

When we were back in school, I caught COVID. It was inevitable after being exposed to hundreds of children on any given day.

More on this story:
‘Many mistakes’ over school closures
Everything you need to know about inquiry

Most challenging time during my entire teaching career

Teachers were expected to teach online and then also make calls home to parents and children to help with any pastoral issues.

And that’s before trying to navigate the challenges of children whose parents had lost their jobs and were struggling to make ends meet.

It was tough, having to home-school my own two children and teach online, as well as call home to ensure that the mental health and well-being of students was also addressed.

I would speak to parents that were beside themselves, and didn’t know how to get their children out of bed or undertake their online learning.

I lost friends and family to COVID, many colleagues also found the impact on their mental health overwhelming.

Teaching during COVID was by far the most challenging time during my entire teaching career, spanning over 20 years.