Canadian-born Kenneth Law pleaded guilty to 14 counts of incitement to suicide. The man had mailed “death kits” containing poison to people in dozens of countries, including Canada, the United Kingdom, the United States, Italy, Australia and New Zealand. Yesterday, Friday May 29, Law appeared in a packed courtroom in Newmarket, Ontario, to plead guilty to prosecutors, who in exchange agreed to drop the murder charge. Sentencing is expected in September.
The 14 deaths in Canada and the case in the United Kingdom
The defendant confirmed to Judge Michelle Fuerst that he understood the extent of his crimes and had voluntarily accepted the plea deal. The victims’ families became emotional as the court read each of the charges; Law admitted his role in the deaths of 14 people, aged between 16 and 36, in the province of Ontario alone. He also confessed to having sent the lethal substances which caused the deaths of 79 other people in the UK. The story has raised a wave of indignation across the Channel, where relatives of the victims are now clamoring for a public inquiry into the flaws in controls in online forums.
Fake food products to evade controls
Law, a former engineer and former chef at a Toronto hotel, ran a series of web portals that sold lethal chemicals to vulnerable people around the world. To evade customs inspections, he disguised shipments by inserting products such as hot sauce into the packages, so as to give the illusion of operating as a food wholesaler. The silver packaging of the poison carried a warning that use of the product was the sole responsibility of the user. Inside were detailed instructions on how to use the substance to take your own life. Investigators found that Law sent a total of 1,209 packages to 41 countries before the business was finally shut down.
Talking about suicide is not easy. If you are experiencing an emergency situation you can call 112. If you are in danger or know someone who is you can call the Telefono Amico number 02 2327 2327 (service active every day from 9am to midnight, 7 days a week) or you can get in touch with them via WhatsApp chat on the number 324 011 7252 (service active every day from 6pm to 9pm). Otherwise you can contact Samaritans onlus on the number 06 77208977 (costs from your operator’s tariff plans), a service active every day from 1pm to 10pm.