A coroner has issued a warning over suicide websites after eight people died from a poison bought online.
A shocking 45 deaths connected to the unnamed substance have been recorded by police across the UK and Europe. Just as concerning is within a 12 month period, another 40 people bought it with the grisly intention of taking their own lives.
The senior coroner for Manchester West, Timothy Brennand has laid bare the extent of the harrowing impact this poison has had in the region with a ‘cluster’ of eight deaths in Wigan, Bolton and Salford.
Mr Brennand described the deadly substance as a food preservative and a ‘reportable poison as well as a reportable explosives precursor’, Manchester Evening News reports.
He wrote: “The police investigation into one UK based source of supply revealed in 247 cases separate supplies of 500 grams of less of [REDACTED] to customers in the UK and Europe, police established that 85 of these individuals who were traceable had either died as the consequence of self-ingestion of the substance, or had purchased it with a view to having the means to use this method to end their life.”
Mr Brennand said the suppliers ‘were not aware of this potential misuse of the substance’.
He continued: “The small quantities being purchased had been incorrectly evaluated to be an increase in individuals pursuing recreational home-curing/food preservations as a hobby, being an artefact of ‘lockdown’ living following the COVID national pandemic emergency.
“The police investigation revealed the ability of members of the public to access a number of websites, primarily created in the USA, Canada and Mexico that promoted information as to how to access: Poisons that could bring about death; How, in what way and with other necessary preparations (in particular -antiemetic medications) the poisons should be administered; Sourcing such poisons/chemicals/medications in the UK and abroad.”
The tragic eight deaths in Greater Manchester include 45-year-old Kelly Walsh from Atherton, Wigan, who ordered the substance from a supplier in Lithuania in 2021. Matthew O’Reilly, 18, was found dead in his Salford student accommodation in 2020 a few weeks after buying the substance online.
Dad Samuel Dickenson, 33, died at home in Leigh after taking the substance obtained in a ‘suicide pack’ sold online. In 2021, Matthew Price, 37, took his own life at home in Bolton after buying a ‘suicide kit’ online. Shaun Bass, 23, searched for a ‘fool proof method’ to commit suicide before taking the chemical.
Andrew Brown, 45, died at his home in Wigan on 2023 after taking the substance. William Armstrong, 24, was suffering from a psychotic illness when he died in a hotel room in 2021 having ordered the poison from Russia.