A man who is alleged to have sold a lethal substance to people around the world and has been linked to more than 90 deaths in the UK will plead guilty to counselling or aiding suicide.
Kenneth Law, a former chef, 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.
Mr Law first came to the attention of authorities following an investigation by The Times newspaper in April 2023. It originally linked him to four deaths. However, Law has since been under investigation for at least 109 deaths, according to the National Crime Agency.
Earlier this month Law agreed to plead guilty to counselling or aiding suicide in exchange for all 14 of his murder charges being withdrawn, according to his lawyer.
Many parents of the alleged victims have unequivocally condemned what they believe Law enabled their children to do.
It was the death of 22-year-old Tom Parfett, after ingesting sodium nitrite, that sparked The Times investigation. His father, David, said “You’ve got a man who’s playing God with other people’s lives, recklessly playing God”.
Kenneth Law was introduced to poisons by notorious assisted suicide campaigner ‘Dr Death’, Philip Nitschke
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.
Nitschke reportedly defended the actions of Law, claiming that he was only providing people with the choice of how to end their lives. “We published Ken Law’s contact details in the [online suicide handbook]”, Nitschke said, telling people that “Amazon don’t sell [the poison] anymore, go to Ken Law – and they did”.
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.
Kenneth Law not the only recent case of selling assisted suicide chemicals online
In January, 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”.
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”.
Spokesperson for Right To Life UK, Catherine Robinson, said “Kenneth Law’s crimes are appalling. The actions of Law and Miles Cross, even though they appear not to have coerced anyone, are wrong because they prey on vulnerable people in some of the darkest moments in their lives. Sadly, many in our political class fail to recognise that the legalisation of assisted suicide does the same thing. Fortunately, the assisted suicide Bill has now failed”.
“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”.
