‘My sister was groomed to her death online. It’s a national scandal’
gAdele Zeynep Walton and her sister Aimee did everything together while rowing.
Zeynep Walton, who is only 18 months apart, remembers that their mothers often dressed them in the same clothes. Even though she was younger, Aimee always knew exactly what she wanted to do and where she wanted to go.
“She was truly a wonderful sister,” said Mrs. Zeynep Walton Independent. “She was super independent and had really special interests from a young age.”
Despite this closeness, Mrs. Zeynep Walton received almost no news from her sister during the last year of her life. She knew Aimee was struggling with her mental health, but she felt helpless as the then 21-year-old became increasingly distant, isolating herself from her family and often disappearing for weeks at a time.
Then in October 2022, Aimee was found dead after swallowing a substance she purchased online. Police would later tell his family that he had spent time on a forum that glorified and enabled suicide and that the substance had been recommended to him by a man named 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 action in the UK.
Last month, Ms Zeynep Walton joined other grieving families via video link as the man who sent the lethal poison to her sister, more than 3,000 miles away, faced a Canadian court.
Appearing in Newmarket Court in Ontario, Law pleaded guilty to 14 counts of assisting suicide.
Prosecutors have previously said he is suspected of sending at least 1,200 packages, many containing toxic substances, to more than 40 countries, including the United States, Italy, Australia and New Zealand.
Potentially the largest group, victims in the United Kingdom were included in the case only as “agreed facts”; these were factors that could have increased Law’s sentence, but not his individual counts. The National Crime Agency (NCA) confirmed it would not be prosecuting Law in the UK and said the decision “guarantees that all victims and families in the UK will see justice”.
For Ms Zeynep Walton, the result feels like a “slap in the face”.
The decision was further strengthened when the government announced it was rejecting calls for a public inquiry at the pro-suicide forum where the substance was introduced to Aimee.
Ms Zeynep Walton said she, along with seven other families from Online Suicide Harm Prevention Families and Survivors (FSPOSH), were currently receiving advice on appealing the refusal in the High Court.
‘A national scandal’
Aimee, from Southampton, was found dead in a hotel room on October 14, 2022. He was accompanied by an American man who flew to England to be with him as he died. The man was later charged with assisting suicide but no further action was taken.
Ms Zeynep Walton described her family’s horror at discovering that Aimee had been interacting online with people who encouraged her to take her life.
“We were really surprised that something like this existed and how easy it was to access,” he said.
“We thought, ‘Oh, this is such a hard thing to get to. Maybe it’s on the dark web.’ “But since I lost Aimee, I’ve realized that the dark web does exist, but most of the harmful stuff is also available on the mainstream internet.”
He believes his sister was “trained” to take her own life. An investigation into Aimee’s death has not yet been held.
“This is grooming,” he said. “They isolate you from your loved ones.”
As she began to piece together her online life in the months leading up to her sister’s death, she realized Aimee wasn’t the only person whose tragic end was linked to this forum and Law. Speaking to other grieving families, the group began to paint a much broader, bloodier picture of Law’s crimes and the dark web within which he operated.
“Alarm bells immediately started ringing for me,” he said. “I felt like this was a national scandal, but no one knows about it and no one talks about it.”
Ms. Zeynep Walton, who tells Aimee’s story and her own thoughts in her book Signing Off: The Human Cost of Our Digital WorldShe contacted David Parfett, whose 22-year-old son Tom took his life in circumstances strikingly similar to Aimee’s.
Together they founded FSPOSH. The group has campaigned for years for Ofcom to shut down the site and for the government to take action to stop the sale of the substance to vulnerable people.
Seeing Law brought to trial should have been a moment of vindication for them. Instead, they say it is a pale imitation of the justice they seek.
“We all feel disappointed,” said Ms Zeynep Walton Independent. “We all feel really angry and disappointed.
“Scale [Kenneth Law’s] The impact in the UK is potentially its deadliest. “It is unquestionable that he should be punished here too.”
‘The government’s hands will be stained with blood’
As the group’s fight to have Law tried in the UK courts continues at full speed, group members are painfully aware that the forum visited by Aimee, Tom and many others in their most vulnerable moments is still active.
In October last year, they responded to the forum by issuing a call for a public inquiry into what they called “massive state failures”. In their letter to Sir Keir Starmer, they wrote that the state was “too slow to respond to threats, failing to take action to save lives and prevent harm, despite many warnings”.
The group is calling for tougher regulation of the substance being promoted, for regulator Ofcom to take action to ensure the forum is not accessible to UK users, and for an investigation into missed opportunities to save the lives of people associated with the forum.
Last month Ofcom fined the provider £950,000. The regulator told Independent investigation continues.
But the government recently rejected their request for a public inquiry. A Home Office spokesman insisted it was “working closely with law enforcement partners to detect and intercept harmful substances entering the UK”.
Ms Zeynep Walton said: “I really feel that if the decision of the public inquiry is not changed, if there are more deaths, the government, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, all these ministries, have blood on their hands.”
“It is absolutely inexcusable that they did not take this seriously enough to try to stop it and used every mechanism they could to stop it.
“Right now, a public inquiry is the legally strongest way we can look at all the failures, learn from the mistakes and prevent them from happening again.”
Government spokesman said it would ““Continue to take action to prevent the misuse of hazardous substances and ensure law enforcement.”
“Under the Online Safety Act, services are required to take action to prevent users from accessing suicidal content,” they continued. “If they failed to do so, they faced serious sanctions, such as fines of up to 10 percent of worldwide revenue or courts blocking access.”
A spokesman for Ofcom said it had no role in launching a public investigation but had used its powers to take action against the provider of the forum.
“Our investigation was the first launched immediately after the Online Safety Act 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 continues as we explore all options to use the powers available to us to protect people in the UK.”
If you are experiencing distressed emotions or having difficulty coping, you can talk or email the Samaritans confidentially on 116 123 (UK and ROI). jo@samaritans.orgor visit Samaritans Website to find details of your nearest branch.
If you are a US resident and you or someone you know needs mental health help right now, call or text 988 or visit: 988lifeline.org To access online chat on the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. This is a free, confidential crisis helpline that anyone can access 24 hours a day, seven days a week. If you are in another country you can go to: befrienders.org To find a helpline near you.
