London man charged with manslaughter in case that links alleged domestic abuse to suicide

Gillian Morand, 36, died in Bexley, south-east London in 2020 after which allegations against her husband emerged A man has been charged with manslaughter over the death of a woman in 2020, in a rare prosecution of alleged domestic abuse linked to suicide, police have said. Gillian Morand, 36, died in Bexley, south-east London, and an inquest concluded she had taken her own life. Allegations of domestic abuse that Morand had previously suffered then came to light and Scotland Yard launched an investigation. Seyhan Assaf, 45, of Berwick Crescent, Sidcup, south-east London, has been charged with manslaughter and coercive or controlling behaviour. It is alleged Morand was abused over a “significant period” and that it contributed to her death in March 2020, the Metropolitan police said. DCI Dan Whitten said: “This is a complex investigation with very few charges of this nature authorised across the country.” He asked for anyone who was in contact with Morand in the decade before her death to contact the force. Assaf will appear at Bromley magistrates court on Saturday. Samantha Yelland, senior crown prosecutor in the CPS London homicide unit, said: “We have decided to prosecute Seyhan