A photo of Kenneth Law shown during a press conference in Mississauga, Ont., in 2023. Mr. Law pleaded guilty on Friday to 14 counts of assisting suicide.Arlyn McAdorey/The Canadian Press
The British families of the alleged victims of Canadian Kenneth Law are demanding a public inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the case, which involves the deaths of more than 100 people in the U.K. and Canada.
Mr. Law, 60, pleaded guilty in an Ontario court on Friday to 14 counts of assisting suicide. He is alleged to have sent a toxic substance to 1,200 people in 40 countries, including Canada and Britain, where 112 people died.
Britain’s Crown Prosecution Service has told the families of victims that Mr. Law will not face charges in the U.K.
A timeline of key events in the Kenneth Law case
“After careful assessment, we agreed that Mr. Law should be sentenced for the full extent of his offending within a single sentencing process in Canada. This approach is not unusual in cases involving serious offending that crosses international borders,” said a letter sent to the families this week. The CPS added that while “this may be painful to hear,” the decision was reached after a detailed consideration of all options.
“For me, the focus is always on, ‘Have we learned the lessons to make sure that this doesn’t happen again?’” said David Parfett whose 22-year-old son, Tom, died in 2021 by suicide in Sunbury-on-Thames after taking a substance allegedly sold to him by Mr. Law. “We just haven’t addressed the root cause of the online safety and poisons law, and that’s why we as a families group are calling for a statutory public inquiry. We believe that the government is failing in its duty to protect its citizens.”
Mr. Parfett said the justice systems in Canada and the U.K. have missed an opportunity to “signal how seriously they will treat this type of harm” by not charging Mr. Law with murder. And he said both countries have not addressed the threat posed by online sellers who promote suicide kits.
He has been contacted by two people – one in Britain and one in Canada – who lost loved ones in the same way Tom died. “I’m seeing nobody in Canada or in the U.K. take seriously the signal of this future threat. It’s not just a future threat it’s a current threat.”
A joint statement from Joanne Jakymec, Chief Crown Prosecutor for the Crown Prosecution Service, and Craig Turner, Deputy Director for the National Crime Agency, acknowledged the pain suffered by the families. The statement said their agencies worked with the 45 British police forces and international police agencies during a three-year investigation. “The U.K. is the only country globally with an investigation detailed enough to be included in the Canadian prosecution,” the statement said. “We have explained our decision making in detail to the victims and their families and thank them for their support and patience throughout our investigation.”
The British government has so far rejected calls for an inquiry.