Families call for police to treat sudden deaths of domestic abuse victims as suspicious

The families of two women who died after allegedly suffering domestic abuse have told Channel 4 News the police failed to investigate their sudden deaths properly.

Danielle Charters-Christie and Tereesa McMahon died within months of each other in 2021. Police almost immediately ruled both deaths as suicide.

In Danielle’s case, the father of her partner, who was later arrested on suspicion of murder, was allowed to transfer her body to the morgue in his capacity as an undertaker. Her family told us this was wholly inappropriate.

There are growing calls for all sudden deaths of domestic abuse victims to be treated as suspicious from the outset.

Warning, this report contains distressing detail, including reference to suicide, throughout.

Additional reporting by Jamie Roberton.