A man in England has been sentenced to 14 years in prison after being found guilty of selling assisted suicide chemicals through an online forum, leading to the deaths of two individuals in a case that is thought to be the first of its kind.
Miles Cross, 33, from Wrexham, was found guilty on four counts of intentionally doing an act capable of encouraging or assisting suicide. The Crown Prosecution Service reported that Cross sold the lethal substance on an online forum to four individuals and sent it to them by post. “Cross received payments of £100 from four people and sent them the substance through the post. Two people took their own lives as a result”.
Alison Storey, Specialist Prosecutor with the CPS Special Crime Division, said, “Miles Cross preyed on four people in a distressed state and knowingly provided a substance intended to end their lives”.
“This case is a stark reminder of the dangers posed by those who aim to exploit vulnerable individuals online. The CPS will always aim to hold offenders to account when they illegally seek to encourage or assist a suicide”.
It was reported that Cross was part of an online suicide forum that he described as “a bible”, and that he wished to sell the fatal substance to individuals to “help others end their lives”.
Cross’s sentencing for assisting suicides comes as the assisted suicide Bill, which would permit state assistance in suicide for people thought to have six months or less to live, continues to be debated at Committee Stage in the House of Lords.
Other recent cases of illegal assisted suicides in the UK linked to assisted suicide campaigner
While Cross has been convicted of criminal wrongdoing, there have been cases of alleged illegal assisted suicides in the UK in recent years, many of which have been linked to a pro-assisted suicide campaigner.
Dr Philip Nitschke, a former GP nicknamed ‘Dr Death’ who also invented the notorious Sarco gas chamber assisted suicide pod, said he published details of a lethal poison, which he described as offering a “cheap” and “reliable” method of achieving a “peaceful death”, in an online suicide “handbook”.
Nitschke also said that he introduced the poison to Kenneth Law, a former chef who then began selling the poison and who has been linked to more than 90 deaths in the UK. Law is currently awaiting trial on 14 charges of first-degree murder and 14 counts of aiding and counselling suicide.
Law allegedly offered a lethal substance and other methods of committing suicide on now-defunct websites called “Imtime Cuisine” and “Escape Mode”. Over 1,200 packages are thought to have been ordered from these websites and delivered to people in 40 countries around the world.
Recently, Nitschke hosted a controversial assisted suicide workshop in London, where he presented numerous ways he had devised to bring about the intentional end to individuals’ lives through assisted suicide, including the use of gases, mechanical devices, and poisons.
Spokesperson for Right To Life UK, Catherine Robinson, said “Miles Cross’ crimes are appalling, and it is only just that he has been sentenced to 14 years. Equally appalling is the current attempt to legalise assistance in suicide for those thought to be near the end of their lives. We recognise that Cross’ actions, even though he appears not to have coerced anyone, are wrong because they prey on vulnerable people in some of the darkest moments in their lives. The legalisation of assisted suicide will do the same thing”.
“If assisted suicide were to become legal in England and Wales, we would see many more vulnerable people lose their lives. We must never allow the actions of such men to be vindicated, and we must never allow this dangerous Bill to become law”.
