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The family of a woman who took her own life after domestic abuse said they had “fought for many years” for an inquest to rule she was unlawfully killed.

Kellie Sutton, 30, was found unconscious at the home she shared with partner Steven Gane in Welwyn Garden City on 23 August 2017. A previous inquest at Hertfordshire Coroner’s Court concluded she died by suicide, but this now been overturned. Ms Sutton’s family said the conclusion was “ground-breaking”.

It is believed to be the first time an inquest has returned a conclusion of unlawful killing after a woman has taken her own life following domestic abuse.In March 2018, Gane was jailed for four years and three months for controlling and coercive behaviour, assault occasioning actual bodily harm and assault by beating.

The new inquest was held in Hatfield, run by the Cambridgeshire Coroner’s Office. The inquest jury also concluded failures by Hertfordshire Police may have contributed to the mum-of-three’s death, as first reported by Channel 4 News. Officers visited Ms Sutton’s home on 9 July 2017, when neighbours heard banging and shouting, but officers had not considered the possibility of coercive control. The jury found that had further investigation or action been taken by police, it may have prevented the death.