{"id":104,"date":"2026-04-14T11:19:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-14T11:19:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/redzine.co.uk\/index.php\/2026\/04\/14\/man-convicted-of-causing-his-wifes-suicide-why-this-is-a-landmark-moment-for-abuse-victims\/"},"modified":"2026-04-14T11:19:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-14T11:19:10","slug":"man-convicted-of-causing-his-wifes-suicide-why-this-is-a-landmark-moment-for-abuse-victims","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/redzine.co.uk\/index.php\/2026\/04\/14\/man-convicted-of-causing-his-wifes-suicide-why-this-is-a-landmark-moment-for-abuse-victims\/","title":{"rendered":"Man convicted of causing his wife\u2019s suicide \u2013 why this is a landmark moment for abuse victims"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/span> tonkid\/shutterstock<\/a><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Kimberly Milne<\/a> was 28 when she climbed over the barrier of a motorway bridge and jumped to her death. That night, witnesses saw her cowering from her husband, Lee Milne, in a retail park in Dundee, as he trapped her against a wall. CCTV footage showed her trying to get away while he shouted, drove a car at her and pulled her back into his orbit. <\/p>\n

In the year before her death, he had choked her, dragged her by the hair, hit her until she fell and lost consciousness, and apologised, promising he was \u201cnot that type of guy\u201d. He went through her phone, controlled<\/a> her movements and, according to messages shown in court, created a situation where leaving felt impossible: \u201cHow can I leave him if he\u2019s saying he\u2019s going to do himself in without me?\u201d <\/p>\n

In a first-of-its-kind case in Scotland, Lee Milne has now been held criminally responsible<\/a> for his wife\u2019s suicide. The 39-year-old was convicted of culpable homicide and sentenced to eight years in custody.<\/p>\n

In Spain, Noelia Castillo<\/a>, 25, underwent euthanasia after a long and highly contested legal battle. In early adulthood, she reported multiple incidents of sexual assault. Days after being gang-raped, she attempted suicide by jumping from a building. She survived, but with irreversible paraplegia, chronic physical pain, neurological damage and profound psychological suffering. <\/p>\n

Her euthanasia was legally granted on the basis of that condition. But the question remains: if the injuries that made her life unbearable followed a suicide attempt triggered by sexual violence, can her death be understood without that violence?<\/p>\n

Homicide has long been treated as the most extreme outcome of abuse. But recent evidence suggests that abuse-related suicide may be at least as common, if not more so. Yet it remains far less recognised in law, policy and public understanding.<\/p>\n

In 2022, an England-wide study<\/a> found that people who had ever experienced intimate partner violence were almost three times as likely to have attempted suicide in the previous year, even after adjusting for other adversities. <\/p>\n

Data in England and Wales suggests that what might be termed \u201cperpetrator-produced suicide\u201d (where sustained abuse produces the conditions in which a person ends their own life) is not uncommon. The Domestic Homicide Project<\/a>, a research project led by the National Police Chiefs\u2019 Council, recorded 98 suspected suicides following domestic abuse between April 1 2023 and March 31 2024. This was more than the 80 intimate partner homicides recorded, overtaking them for the second year in a row.<\/p>\n

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\n Read more:
\n Are women more safe today in England and Wales than they were in the past \u2013 or less? What the evidence shows<\/a>
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This suggests that fatal outcomes linked to domestic abuse may be being categorised as individual acts, rather than perpetrator-produced harm. The result is underrecognition of abusers\u2019 role in their victims\u2019 suicide. There have only been five prosecutions<\/a> of this kind in England and Wales, leading to just one confirmed conviction for manslaughter.<\/p>\n

In Kimberly Milne\u2019s case, the court found that sustained physical and psychological abuse was a significant contributing factor in her death. The judge concluded that Lee Milne\u2019s actions drove his wife to a point of despair, from which she took her own life.<\/p>\n

In Castillo\u2019s case, the question of responsibility remains unresolved. The violence that preceded her suicide attempt and ultimately led to her death sits outside the frame of legal accountability. The law breaks these events apart: the assault is treated as a crime, the suicide attempt as her own act, and the later death as a medical decision, rather than recognising how violence can set the whole chain in motion.<\/p>\n

\u2018Choice\u2019 under coercion<\/h2>\n

To understand the link between suicide and domestic violence or coercive control, we must ask: what does it mean to \u201cchoose\u201d to end one\u2019s life, when that choice is made under coercion<\/a> or threat<\/a>?<\/p>\n

My research explores weaponised attachment<\/a>, where perpetrators of abuse deliberately use emotional bonds to control their victims. They form attachment through grooming, trauma-sharing and vulnerability, and then use that attachment to influence decisions about whether to stay, leave or seek help. Coercion often operates by shaping how decisions are made \u2013 narrowing the options a person can see and making the choice to leave feel impossible.<\/p>\n

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\n Abuse and coercion can change the options a victim thinks are available.<\/span>
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\n Read more:
\n How domestic abusers use emotional bonding to control their victims \u2013 new study<\/a>
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Research<\/a> in behavioural economics and cognitive psychology shows that people make choices within the set of options they perceive as available, not the set that objectively exists. Under threat and loss, people seek more risk<\/a> and are more likely to choose extreme options to escape unpleasant states.<\/p>\n

When coercion shapes what a person sees as their obligations and options, a resulting decision cannot be treated as fully self-authored. It is made, but under conditions structured<\/a> by another. In cases of perpetrator-produced suicide, the issue is not simply whether a victim \u201cchose\u201d to die, but whether that choice was made with the authority required for responsibility. The same mechanism operates in cases where victims are said to have \u201cconsented\u201d to abuse<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Justice for victims<\/h2>\n

This conviction could change how criminal justice systems approach perpetrator-produced suicide. It could lead to more homicide-style investigations where suicide follows coercive control. In investigations, this would mean greater emphasis on patterns of abuse over time, rather than isolating the final event. <\/p>\n

For this shift to be meaningful, changes are needed. First, there is a need for better recording of perpetrator-produced suicides, which are currently fragmented or likely misclassified as individual deaths. Second, what police consider as evidence must expand to include patterns of coercion, digital traces and how the relationship unfolded over time, rather than focusing only on what happened in the final moments. <\/p>\n

Third, the law needs to be clearer about when sustained abuse leads to responsibility for a death, moving beyond vague labels like \u201cvulnerability\u201d and focusing on how a person\u2019s options were restricted.<\/p>\n

Finally, risk assessment practices should move away from predicting isolated incidents towards identifying coercive environments that generate escalating harm. Without these changes, this landmark ruling risks remaining an exceptional case, rather than a foundation for future accountability.<\/p>\n

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If you\u2019re struggling with suicidal thoughts, the following services can provide you with support: In the UK and Ireland \u2013 call Samaritans UK at 116 123. In the US \u2013 call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or IMAlive at 1-800-784-2433. In Australia \u2013 call Lifeline Australia at 13 11 14. In other countries \u2013 visit IASP or Suicide.org<\/a> to find a helpline in your country.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

Mags Lesiak does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

tonkid\/shutterstock Kimberly Milne was 28 when she climbed over the barrier of a motorway bridge and jumped to her death. That night, witnesses saw her cowering from her husband, Lee Milne, in a retail park in Dundee, as he trapped her against a wall. CCTV footage showed her trying to get away while he shouted, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-104","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/redzine.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/redzine.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/redzine.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redzine.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redzine.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=104"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/redzine.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/redzine.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=104"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redzine.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=104"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redzine.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=104"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}