A mum whose daughter committed suicide after relentless persecution, including violent assaults, at the hands of a brutal ex-boyfriend, is calling for a change in the law to offer better protection to potential future victims.
Chloe Holland, 23, died last March after taking her own life, having suffered brutal abuse at the hands of Marc Masterton, 26, Masterton tracked Chloe’s phone, hit her with a dumbbell, and even gave her a knife, telling her to kill herself.
Eventually Chloe did so, and he was eventually sentenced to 41 months in prison after pleading guilty to coercive and controlling behaviour in August.
Her mum Sharon, from Portsmouth in Hampshire, is pushing for a new offence of “manslaughter by coercive control” – something she refers to as Chloe’s law.
So far the Ministry of Justice has rejected her demands, arguing existing legislation is sufficient – but campaigners argue there have been no unlawful act manslaughter convictions linked to coercive control.
Sharon said Chloe met Masterton at school, but they only became a couple in January 2022, after which she went from a “happy, lively and energetic” person to somebody who was increasingly withdrawn as she was isolated her from friends and family, including her four-year-old son from a previous relationship.
In July, Chloe called her mother to say Masterton had given her a black eye and that she had reported him to police – but the pair soon reconciled. The following February, a friend said Chloe had live-streamed her intention to take her own life.
Sharon called police, who found her Chloe and took her to hospital. Sharon told the Mirror: “He was on the phone to her before she did it.”
Chloe was on life support at Portsmouth’s Queen Alexandria Hospital for five weeks before dying on March 6.
Sharon said: “It was the hospital that got me, that was the most traumatic part.”
Towards the end Sharon took her grandson to see his mum, she explained.
She added: “He always used to call her Chloe because he thought it was funny. That time her son was actually calling her mummy.
“We used to have our moments like any mother and daughter, but just not speaking to her anymore, and at Christmas her not seeing her boy and giving him presents… it breaks my heart.
“It just changed my life for ever. She was my child!”
Portsmouth Crown Court was told Masterton’s abuse had resulted in the collapse of Chloe’s mental health.
Sharon is working with Sophie Naftalin, a criminal justice lawyer at Bhatt Murphy, to force a more detailed coroner’s inquest into why her daughter died, believing many authorities do not routinely consider manslaughter in suicide cases.
Ms Naftalin said: “The law as it currently stands does not rule out manslaughter as a possible charge in these circumstances.
“But a statutory offence of manslaughter following coercive control may encourage police officers and prosecutor to think more carefully about the offences available to them.
“It just might not occur to them to arrest someone for manslaughter, when they find a dead body of someone who’s obviously died from suicide. In terms of like awareness raising, I think it might make a huge difference on the ground. “
The Ministry of Justice says: “We’ve toughened up the law to better protect domestic abuse victims and punish perpetrators and those who drive their partners to suicide already face prosecution for manslaughter.”
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