Recognising domestic violence as a cause of death: One mother’s long fight

It has taken six years for the grieving mother of a suicide victim to be listened to by the UK authorities.

Contains references to self-harm, sexual violence, domestic abuse and suicide. 

A talented hairdresser with a knack for convincing people to get dressed up in fancy dress for parties, Jessica Laverack (affectionately known as Jessie) was the youngest of three siblings, owned 52 pets at one point, and warmly jostled with her elder sister for their mother, Phyllis’s, attention, even as adults.

In the aftermath of traumatic events, life is often fragmented into “before” and “after”. That was Jessie’s “before”.

During the summer of 2017, Jessie, aged 33, fled more than 50 miles from her home in Rotherham in northern England to escape her ex-partner, after two occasions on which he had strangled her.

It was at this moment that a litany of failings from a supposed safety net of professionals, institutions and organisations started racking up, Phyllis, 68, a retired health visitor from East Riding, says she can see in retrospect.