The families of the 79 people who died after taking poison sold to them by Kenneth Law say they are angry that he will not face justice in the UK, as ITV News Reporter Cari Davies explains
A Canadian man accused of selling lethal substances online to people who used them to end their own lives, has pleaded guilty to 14 charges of counselling or aiding suicide.
Kenneth Law appeared in court in Ontario on Friday to enter the plea, and sentencing is expected to take place in September. Canadian prosecutors withdrew 14 murder charges in exchange for Law’s plea.
The guilty pleas relate to 14 people across Ontario who were between the ages of 16 and 36. However, police say Law is suspected of sending at least 1,200 packages to more than 40 countries.
Canadian police say Law used a series of websites to market and sell sodium nitrite, substance commonly used to cure meats which can be deadly if ingested.
Britain’s National Crime Agency (NCA) has said 79 deaths in the UK are attributable to products supplied by Law, while 112 deaths are linked to websites associated with Law.
However, prosecutors in the UK have decided not to charge Law or apply for his extradition. Announcing the decision on Friday, the NCA said the UK victims would be taken into account by the Canadian judge when deciding on a sentence.
It said “the pain and suffering he caused to the victims in England and Wales would be fully recognised”.
During Friday’s proceedings, a Canadian prosecutor described the final moments of those who died using Law’s products, detailing cases from both the 14 victims in Canada and dozens of others in the UK.
In the courtroom gallery, family members of the victims dabbed away tears as a prosecutor detailed the final moments of people who died after using the lethal products purchased from Law. The details were part of an Agreed Statement of Facts documenting the impact of Law’s crimes on UK victims.
The statement reflected the fact 73 people had died in England and Wales, five in Scotland and one in Northern Ireland, as a result of using products Law supplied to them. It said 330 shipments were sent to the UK, one shipment to the Isle of Man and 12 shipments to Ireland.
Victims from the UK included one who called 999 to say he “doesn’t want to die”, the court heard. The Crown told the court the 29-year-old man was found face down on his bed still connected to the 999 call in July 2021.
Another of Law’s UK victims, a 20-year-old woman, was told by a mental health charity to call an ambulance after using the product sold by the Canadian national. The court heard she was found unconscious and died four days later in hospital.
The court also heard about a 19-year-old student at the University of Warwick who died in June 2022. He called emergency services and informed them he would probably be dead within 20 minutes.
The student was found collapsed outside his halls of residence by members of the public who began CPR as they waited for an ambulance to arrive. He was taken to hospital where he died later that evening.
The court also heard about the death of Imogen Nunn a 25-year-old deaf Tik-Tok star, who suffered from emotional unstable personality disorder, severe depression and PTSD.
She had been in a mental health hospital for five years, having come out approximately 12 months before her death, after attending a New Year’s Eve party at a friend’s house.
After receiving intelligence from Canadian authorities suggesting a number of Britons had been implicated in Law’s scheme, the NCA spent three years building a case for extradition.
However, at a press conference on Friday, the NCA warned that following his sentence, it is unlikely that Law, 60, from Toronto, would ever be extradited to face punishment in the UK.
British families of Law’s victims have expressed disappointment that the poison seller will not be punished in the UK and have called for a public inquiry.
The sister of 21-year-old Aimee Walton, from Southampton, who died in 2022, said that “doors have been shut” for families seeking justice.
“If our own country will not put anyone on trial for these deaths, the very least it can do is hold a proper inquiry into how they were allowed to happen,” Adele Zeynep Walton said.
“The question for our own country is simpler still: who here will examine how the British state let this happen, and what it will do so that no other family goes through it? A foreign sentencing hearing cannot answer that. Only a statutory public inquiry can.”
The father of a philosophy student Thomas Parfett, 22, who died after taking a poison supplied by Law, also criticised the decision not to bring charges against Law in the UK, saying it “in no way” brings justice for his son.
David Parfett added: “It doesn’t send the right message to other people that are doing the same thing, typically using internet sites.”
Mr Parfett said Law was able to advertise his products online, thanks to people running “nefarious” websites in the UK.
He added that his son, a student at the University of St Andrews, accessed an online “suicide” forum before he died, where he was encouraged by other users to kill himself.
“There’s others who should be prosecuted and nobody is taking the action,” Mr Parfett said.
However, Damon Hayes, the head of the NCA’s International Corruption unit, said that Law’s crimes against people in the UK had been included in the Canadian prosecution.
“Following recent legal advice, it was decided that including Law’s UK offending in his Canadian sentencing was the right course of action to secure justice for victims and families here,” he told reporters.
“Under Canadian law, it is likely that Kenneth Law could challenge extradition on the basis that he’s already been sentenced for the same offences in his own country.
“It’s only due to the thoroughness and strength of our investigation that’s meant this course of action is available.
“The UK is the only country globally that has an investigation detailed and mature enough to be included in the Canadian prosecution.
“The NCA has been working closely with policing colleagues in Scotland and Northern Ireland to ensure victims in their jurisdictions can also be recognised in this way in a Canadian case.”
Hayes added that “victims and families have been at the heart of all decision-making” and thanked them for their patients throughout the “long and complex investigation”.
“We also want to acknowledge that the loss families have suffered, and we recognise every family’s experience of loss is unique.
“We are also seeking to reflect the impact of Law’s crimes in victim impact statements to be used in the sentencing process.”
Andrew Hudson, a specialist prosecutor at the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) insisted that “no victim has been left behind as part of this process”.
He said UK authorities efforts “will ensure that the full devastating extent of his criminal conduct is seen and considered by the sentence in court”.
“An agreed statement of facts agreed between the prosecution and defence in Canada will also document that Kenneth Law sent a total of 330 packages to 286 recipients in the UK.
“We say that all those recipients are victims of Kenneth Laws’ criminal enterprise.”
Hudson added: “By providing Canadian authorities with evidence of Kenneth Law’s offending, the pain and suffering he caused to the victims in England and Wales would be fully recognised.”
The barrister told reporters that it would have taken years to secure extradition, arguing that the sentence expected in Canada is “likely to be similar” to what he would have faced in the UK.
“We are acutely aware of the added distress that protracted extradition proceedings cause, and we were determined to avoid this while still delivering an outcome that recognized the immense suffering Kenneth Law caused,” he said.
“Ultimately the risk of an extradition request being unsuccessful was too high, and the potential consequences too great for us to pursue this course of action.
“Kenneth Law is a serial offender who callously exploited many vulnerable and innocent people exchanging their lives for his financial gain.
“At the heart of this whole process have always been the victims and families who have suffered unimaginable harm at his hands.
“Ultimately, the approach we have agreed with our NCA and Canadian partners will guarantee justice for our victims in the quickest possible way, ensuring Kenneth Law is held accountable for the full extent of the devastation he caused.”
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