7 days ago
Urgent warning as 45 people die after buying food preservative poison online
A coroner has identified at least EIGHT British victims who have used online forums for advice about ending their lives and purchasing an unnamed chemical used as a food preservative
A food preservative poison has been used by at least 45 people to commit suicide after searching online forums for advice about ending their lives, a coroner warned today.
Eight British victims - Matthew O'Reilly, Samuel Dickinson, Shaun Bass, Matthew Price, Chantelle Williams, Kelly Walsh, William Armstrong and Andrew Brown - have been identified after taking the unnamed poisonous chemical. Cops have launched a global probe and traced 85 people in the UK and Europe who had either died after taking the poison or purchased it with a view to ending their lives, it has been revealed. At least 45 of those are known to have died, it was confirmed.
Details of the deaths emerged in eight separate Prevention of Future Death reports issued by Senior Coroner for Manchester West, Timothy Brennand. Writing to the Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper, to raise concerns, he said that reporting restrictions had been imposed on the cases due to an "ongoing criminal investigation in the United Kingdom, Europe and the United States of America".
In his reports into the "cluster" of eight deaths in his region, he did not identify the poison except to say it is a food preservative but also "reportable poison as well as a reportable explosives precursor".
"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 in circumstances," he said.
In each of these instances, he said: "The vendors of the [REDACTED] were not aware of this potential misuse of the substance.
"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.
"Vendors were unaware that their website/details were being distributed as part of internet information platforms designed to aid, abet, assist or promote suicide methods.
"From the specific example of 247 supplies in a 12 month period, police established that 45 purchasers were confirmed as deceased (these deaths were in relation to supplies to UK customers and purchasers from abroad) and only 15 purchases were confirmed to have taken place for legitimate purposes."
Mr Brennand also warned about the availability of websites that give advice on how to take your own life. He wrote: "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: A) Poisons that could bring about death b) How, in what way and with with other necessary preparations (in particular -antiemetic medications) the poisons should be administered. c. Sourcing such poisons/chemicals/medications in the UK and abroad."
Student Matthew O'Reilly, 18, was discovered collapsed and unresponsive within his locked room at his student accommodation in Salford, Greater Manchester in September 2020. He died from a 'deliberate act of recent self-ingestion,' Mr Brennand said.
Samuel Dickenson, 33, died in March 2020 in Wigan having left a suicide note. "Police recovered a padded postal envelope addressed to the deceased next to an opened sealable sachet bag labelled '[REDACTED] – Pure 99.9% 50g' that the deceased had acquired on the 21st of February 2020 from an internet-based company licensed to sell controlled poisons, including [REDACTED]," Mr Brennand said.
Shaun Bass, 23, died in February 2020, in Bolton "having ingested a significant quantity of [REDACTED] that he had acquired earlier in the month from an internet-based company licensed to sell reportable poisons". He had suffered from depression and anxiety.
Mathew Price, 37, died in June 2021, at his home in Bolton. "Post-mortem samples revealed the deceased had recently consumed a significant and fatally toxic quantity of [REDACTED]," his Prevention of Future Death report said.
"[An] email sent to family members contained unequivocal expressions of the deceased's intention."
Andrew Brown, 45, was found dead in August 2023 in circumstances that puzzled investigators as his motive still remains 'unclear'. Mr Brown - who had a history of mental health issues - obtained the poison online months before his death, was found by a family member, and was found with an "Advanced Decision to Refuse Treatment" document by his bed.
The coroner said the most likely scenario that led to his death was a "fleeting, ill-considered, irrational self-harming ideation". William Armstrong, 24, purchased the poison on the internet "from a source in Russia", having shown symptoms of a psychotic illness.
Mr Armstrong checked into a hotel, ingested the poison and 15 minutes later called 999 to report what happened. He was dead when they arrived 90 minutes later. Kelly Walsh, 45, was found dead in February 2021 at home in Atherton, having ordered the poison "from an internet-based supplier in Lithuania".
Her actions were "deliberate and intentional" and she had a declining mental health. Chantelle Williams, who had a "complex medical history", first ingested a "significant but non-fatal" dose of the substance in 2019 and checked into Salford Royal Hospital where she received care.
Twice she managed to order the poison while still on the Keats Ward at the hospital and ingest the poison, with the second incident killing her in May 2020. Coroner Mr Brennand added: "The published Guidance... does not give specific guidance or suggested training to sellers, particularly [REDACTED] acquired by members of the public, particularly over 'online marketplaces' in circumstances of the purchase on a 'one off' basis for the means of self-harming.
"Whilst there is a legal duty on persons selling this substance to report 'suspicious' transactions within 24 hours to the Home Office, the purchase of small quantities is being presumed to be connected to the many legitimate uses of the substance (such as food preservation, fertilizer etc) rather than in fact, being evaluated as a member of the public seeking purchase of modest quantities used as their chosen means by which to end life.
"The current Home Office guidance and supporting video, leaflet and posters do not reference [REDACTED] as a specific example of concern and focuses on the phenomenon of 'malicious' misuse and not deliberate misuse in the sense of suicide/self-harm."
The Home Office is required to respond within 56 days of the report.
