‘My sister was groomed to her death online. It’s a national scandal’

‘My sister was groomed to her death online. It’s a national scandal’ Kenneth Law admitted causing the deaths of 73 victims in the UK, but will face no court in this country. Adele Zeynep Walton, whose sister Aimee died after taking poison sent by Law, speaks to Nicole Wootton-Cane about why she believes the government must act to prevent more deaths - Bookmark Growing up, Adele Zeynep Walton and her sister Aimee did everything together. With a gap of just 18 months between them, Ms Zeynep Walton recalls how their mother often used to dress them in the same clothes. Despite being younger, Aimee would always know exactly what she wanted to do and where she wanted to go. “She was a really cool younger sister,” Ms Zeynep Walton tells The Independent. “She was super independent and had really niche interests from a young age.” Despite this closeness, Ms Zeynep Walton hardly heard from her sister over the last year of her life. She knew Aimee had been struggling with her mental health, but felt helpless as the then 21-year-old became increasingly distance and and isolated herself from their family, often disappearing for weeks at a time. Then, in October 2022, Aimee was found dead after ingesting a substance she had bought online. Police would later tell her family she had spent time on a forum that glorified and enabled suicide, where she had been promoted the substance by a man called Kenneth Law. Three and a half years later, Law, 60, formally admitted causing the deaths of 73 victims in England and Wales. Despite this, he will face no court in the UK. Last month, Ms Zeynep Walton joined other grieving families on a video link as, more than 3,000 miles away, the man who sent her sister the killer poison faced a Canadian court. Appearing at Newmarket Court in Ontario, Law pleaded guilty to 14 counts of aiding suicide. Prosecutors previously indicated he is suspected of sending at least 1,200 packages – many containing a toxic substance – to more than 40 countries including the US, Italy, Australia and New Zealand. His UK victims, potentially the biggest group, were included in the case only as “agreed facts” – factors that could increase Law’s sentence, but not individual counts of their own. The National Crime Agency (NCA) has confirmed it will not seek to prosecute Law in the UK and said the decision “guarantees all victims and families in the UK will see justice”. For Ms Zeynep Walton, the outcome feels like a “slap in the face”. The decision was compounded by the government’s announcement that it had rejected calls for a public inquiry to be held into the pro-suicide forum where the substance was promoted to Aimee. Ms Zeynep Walton says she, along with the seven families involved in the Families and Survivors to Prevent Online Suicide Harms (FSPOSH), are now taking advice on challenging the refusal in the High Court. ‘A national scandal’ Aimee, who was from Southampton, was found dead in a hotel room on 14 October 2022. With her was an American man who had flown to the UK to be by her side while she died. The man was later charged with assisting suicide, but no further action was taken. Ms Zeynep Walton described her family’s horror at finding out that Aimee had been interacting online with people encouraging her to end her life. “We were obviously really shocked that something like this even exists and that it's so easy to access,” she said. “We thought, ‘Oh, this is just something that's very hard to reach. It's maybe on the dark web’. But since losing Aimee, I've realised the dark web does exist, but most of the harmful stuff is also accessible on mainstream internet.” She believes her sister was “groomed” into taking her own life. An inquest into Aimee’s death has not yet been held. “That’s what grooming is,” she said. “They isolate you from your loved ones”. As she began to pull together the pieces of her sister’s online life in the months leading to her death, she realised Aimee was far from the only person whose tragic end had been linked to this forum and to Law. Speaking to other bereaved families, the group began to paint a far wider, bloodier picture of Law’s offending, and the dark network in which he operated. “There were immediately alarm bells to me,” she said. “I felt like, this is a national scandal but no one knows about it and no one's talking about it.” Ms Zeynep Walton, who describes Aimee’s story and her own reflections in her book Logging Off: The Human Cost of our Digital World, was put in touch with David Parfett whose 22-year-old son Tom took his life under strikingly similar circumstances to Aimee. Together, they formed FSPOSH. The group have spent years campaigning for Ofcom to shut down the site and for the government to act to stop the sale of the substance to vulnerable people. Seeing Law brought to court should have been a moment of vindication for them. Instead, they say it was a pale imitation of the justice they are seeking. “We all feel let down,” Ms Zeynep Walton told The Independent. “We all feel really angry and disappointed. “The scale of his (Kenneth Law’s) impact in the UK is potentially his deadliest. It’s unarguable that he should be sentenced here as well.” ‘The government will have blood on its hands’ As the group’s fight to see Law appear in UK courts rumbles on, they are painfully conscious that the forum Aimee, Tom and many others visited at their most vulnerable remains active. In October last year, they issued a call for a public inquiry to be held into what they called “major State failures” in response to the forum. In a letter to Sir Keir Starmer, they wrote the state had been “too slow to respond to the threats which, despite multiple warnings, has failed to act to save lives and prevent harm”. The group are calling for tighter regulations on the substance promoted, regulator Ofcom to take action to make sure the forum isn't accessible to UK users and examination of missed opportunities to save lives over deaths linked to the forum. Last month, Ofcom hit the provider with a fine of £950,000. The regulator told The Independent its investigation remains ongoing. But the government recently rejected their plea for a public inquiry. A Home Office spokesperson insisted it is “working closely with law enforcement partners to identify and intercept harmful substances entering the UK”. Ms Zeynep Walton says she, along with the seven families involved in FSPOSH, are now taking advice on challenging the refusal in the High Court. “I genuinely feel if the public inquiry decision does not change, any more deaths, the government, the Home Office – all of these departments have blood on their hands,” she said. “It's absolutely inexcusable for them to not take it seriously enough to try and stop it and use every mechanism in their power to stop it. “Right now, a public inquiry is the most powerful way legally that we could look at all of the failings and learn from the mistakes and prevent it from happening anymore.” A government spokesperson said it will “continue to take action to prevent the misuse of dangerous substances and ensure the law is upheld”. “Under the Online Safety Act, services must take action to prevent users from accessing suicide content,” they continued. “Where they fail to do so, they have faced robust enforcement action, such as fines of up to 10 per cent of worldwide revenue or courts blocking access.” An Ofcom spokesperson said it has no role in launching a public inquiry, but that it had used its powers to take action against the forum’s provider. “Our investigation was the first to be launched under the Online Safety Act straight after it came into force,” they said. “The provider responded to our enforcement action by making some changes to restrict access to their site in the UK. However, our investigation remains ongoing as we explore all options for using the powers available to us to protect people in the UK.” If you are experiencing feelings of distress, or are struggling to cope, you can speak to the Samaritans, in confidence, on 116 123 (UK and ROI), email [email protected], or visit the Samaritans website to find details of your nearest branch. If you are based in the USA, and you or someone you know needs mental health assistance right now, call or text 988, or visit 988lifeline.org to access online chat from the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. This is a free, confidential crisis hotline that is available to everyone 24 hours a day, seven days a week.If you are in another country, you can go to www.befrienders.org to find a helpline near you.