Southampton: Government to tighten law on online suicide drugs
The government has said it will tighten up laws that allow people to buy drugs online that can be used to take their own lives.Justice minister Sarah Sackman told the House of Commons there would also be a focus on ensuring that existing laws were enforced.MPs heard about a 21-year-old from Southampton who was able to buy substances online to end her life.It also follows the death of 17-year-old Vlad Nikolin-Caisley, from the same city, in similar circumstances in May last year.
MP Darren Paffey said: "A constituent of mine in Southampton Itchen, aged just 21, tragically died after accessing pro-suicide online forums that not only encouraged self-harm but advertised how to get lethal drugs and how to exploit loopholes that allowed this."The substance used in her death can still be bought on Amazon today. "What steps will the minister take to close these loopholes on those who enable criminality, and ensure that the law is actively keeping our young people safe?"
Replying to the Labour MP, Ms Sackman said: "I'm sorry to hear about that tragic case in his constituency."Encouraging or assisting suicide is an offence under the Suicide Act 1961 and sending communications that encourage or assist serious self harm is an offence in the Online Safety Act 2023."But we are going to be tightening up the law to ensure that the situation that he's described is addressed. "And of course it's not just about the law, it's the enforcement of the law as well."
Anna Nikolin-Caisley said her youngest child, Vlad, was "encouraged" to swallow poison by users of an online "pro-suicide" group which is still active in the UK, despite numerous calls to ban it.Vlad's family revealed the harrowing details of his death as a warning to others.Detectives found a "suicide kit" in the family's Southampton home, containing various poisons and pills that Vlad had bought after joining the chat group.
It comes as Canadian chef Kenneth Law is facing a trial for murder in his home country for supplying a poisonous chemical to people around the world who have ended their lives. He is linked to dozens of suicides in the UK, according to the National Crime Agency.
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