Aimee Walton, a 24-year-old music and art lover from Southampton, would have turned 25 on Monday. Instead, in 2022, she took her own life after being groomed on an online forum that glorified suicide. On Friday, Kenneth Law, 60, pleaded guilty in a Canadian court to fatal poisonings linked to 14 deaths, but investigators say he shipped over 1,200 packages containing a toxic substance to more than 40 countries, with most going to the UK and US. Law is connected to at least 131 deaths worldwide.
Families Speak Out
Bereaved relatives say they have been ignored by authorities for years. They are now demanding a full public inquiry into how pro-suicide forums operate and how lethal substances evaded detection. Adele Walton, Aimee's sister and an investigative journalist, met Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Tuesday to press for action. “The scale of Kenneth Law’s crimes in the UK could make him one of the most prolific mass killers in British modern history. It’s insane that no one is talking about it,” she said.
Victims and Legal Proceedings
Among the victims was Tom Parfett, 22, from Surrey, who died in October 2021. His father, David, traced the digital trail and found it “too easy” to obtain the same poison from Law. Law, a former aerospace engineer, began selling the substance in 2020, disguising his sites as food wholesalers. He faces up to 14 years in prison under Canadian law, and his role in UK deaths will be considered during sentencing.
Despite Law's guilty plea, campaigners note that the substance was used before he began selling it, with coroners issuing over three dozen prevention of future death reports since 2019. The media regulator Ofcom fined the online suicide forum £950,000 in early May, but the site remains accessible.
Call for Systemic Change
Walton and Parfett argue that the case highlights a need to rethink society’s approach to online harms. “We put one sinister person away, but the broader problem is the lack of accountability,” Walton said. She also urged better training for mental health providers and paramedics to recognize red flags. Parfett, thinking of his grandson, hopes for a safer online world: “If Tom was 20 years older, pre-internet, I’m sure he’d be here today.”
In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 988, chat on 988lifeline.org, or text HOME to 741741. In Australia, Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines are at befrienders.org.
