'Suicide poison' chef linked to 88 deaths in UK
Kenneth Law was caught by The Times supplying a lethal substance via a website
August 25 2023, The Times
The National Crime Agency has launched a formal investigation into Kenneth Law, a Canadian chef, after linking him to 88 deaths in Britain.
The agency began working with all police forces to identify potential victims of Law after he was caught by The Times supplying a lethal poison to suicidal people via a website.
An Interpol list containing the details of 232 of his British customers was passed to the agency from Canada and subsequent inquiries established that 88 people in the UK had died.
Law, 57, was arrested in Canada days after
a Times exposé revealed that he had been selling the poison online for two years under the noses of the authorities. He admitted to an undercover reporter that "many, many, many, many" people had died after taking the substance.
Craig Turner, deputy director of the NCA, said: "Our deepest sympathies are with the loved ones of those who have died. They are being supported by specially trained officers from police forces. In consultation with the Crown Prosecution Service, the NCA has taken the decision to conduct an investigation into potential criminal offences committed in the UK. This operation is under way."
• Revealed: the chef selling poison to suicidal youngsters
Law is being held in Canada after he was charged with two offences of aiding suicide. He will appear in court in Ontario today for a bail hearing.
The aerospace engineer-turned-chef sent 1,200 packages to 40 countries. He is now being investigated by police in the United States, Italy, Australia and New Zealand.
Yesterday the NCA said that after "extensive liaison" with the Canadian authorities, no cases "from outside their jurisdiction" would be included in the Canadian prosecution. The decision prompted the agency to launch its own formal investigation.
Britain would have to extradite Law if he were charged in relation to deaths in this country. Assisting suicide carries a maximum sentence of 14 years in prison in Canada and the UK.
Parents of those killed by Law's poison have called for an official inquiry into how he was able to avoid detection for two years while shipping a lethal substance into the UK. Law was seemingly able to hoodwink the authorities into thinking he was supplying the poison — which has other uses — for legitimate reasons.
However, The Times revealed that he was preying on
young suicidal people. The case is even more remarkable given that a British police investigation three years ago found that a different seller of the same poison was linked to 57 deaths across the UK and Europe.
David Parfett, whose 22-year-old son Tom died in 2021 after taking the poison sent to him by Law, said: "We have to learn and apply lessons immediately. Now we know the horrific death toll, it is important for families to understand what has happened and why policing worldwide allowed this despite clear warning signs.
"Even today, there are people who promote suicide to the young and vulnerable. There are many other Kenneth Laws. An inquiry should be set up to examine what is happening."
Relatives of the 88 who died, who include several university students in their early twenties, are demanding further action to stop those preying on suicidal individuals. Proposed changes include regulation of the poison used in the suicides — which The Times is not naming — requiring purchasers to have a Home Office licence.
• Chef offered to sell 'suicide poison' to victim's relative via PayPal
They also want to see harmful websites blocked. Evidence seen by this newspaper shows how a number of Law's UK customers were shepherded to him through a shadowy online suicide forum. Users were given the name of Law's website on the forum, which we are also not naming.
Parents and relatives of those who have died also want to see more joined-up policing of the poison. The Home Office receives information on poison suicides from the National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC), which is notified of all such deaths. The information is used to spot emerging trends but the name of the seller is not routinely passed on by police to the NPCC, The Times has learnt.
A joint police investigation between Manchester, Surrey and Sussex forces in 2020 found that a company on the south coast had sent the poison to more than 200 people. As a result, the company was linked to 57 confirmed deaths in the UK and Europe. No charges were brought against the company as police concluded that it believed it was selling the substance to people for legitimate purposes.
Joe Nihill, from Leeds, was 23 when he died in 2020 after taking the substance from the seller on the south coast. His mother Catherine Adenekan, 52, has been calling for change ever since. She told The Times: "The suicide forum is at the centre of this and it is still online. There's also still no regulation of this substance. Why not?"
• 'Poison seller supplied deaf activist' who took own life
Law repeatedly featured in police investigations after UK suicides since 2021 but officers failed to realise that he was actively selling the substance for death. The trained engineer, who appears in court today, was charged on May 2 with two counts of aiding suicide, a week after The Times investigation was published. Both charges relate to deaths in the region where he lives, just outside Toronto. More charges could yet be brought against Law in Canada, with 11 police forces in Ontario alone investigating his activities.
In the UK, sources stressed that investigators still had work to do to prove that the exact poison bought from Law by a customer in the 88 cases led directly to their death. Suspected victims of Law include Imogen Nunn, 25, from Brighton, a deaf TikTok creator with 780,000 followers, who took her own life on New Year's Day this year.
An NCA statement said: "At this early stage there are no confirmed links between the items purchased from the websites and cause of death in any of these cases."
In a phone call, Law told an undercover reporter from The Times that he had "hundreds" of UK customers and that some people had told him that he was doing "God's work". He claimed that he was offering an "avenue of escape" for suicidal people. Later, when confronted by The Times in Mississauga, a city close to Toronto, Law said: "I'm just selling a product. Perhaps you may want to stop people buying knives and guns."
• Listen to Poison, a three-part investigative podcast series about a chef selling death to youngsters
For confidential support, Samaritans can be contacted by calling 116 123 or at samaritans.org
