Ex-soldier is jailed for 14 years for assisting suicide by selling poison online for £100 that was used by man and woman to take their own lives

A former soldier who sold £100 packets online of the poison used by two men to kill themselves was today jailed for 14 years after admitting assisting four suicides.

Miles Cross, 33, set up an internet business selling the lethal substance before targeting vulnerable ‘customers’ on an online forum.

In July 2024, Cross, who uses the name ‘secret pain’ to keep his identity secret, posted a picture of a barrel of poison on the forum, with the following message: ‘Finally got everything for the (poison) method, everything was ready for me in the UK, except for the (poison) itself, it took a bit of legwork to source as we live in the af***** nanny state.

‘I can safely say that finally having it all in my hands and having everything on my own terms is the only relief I’ve had in a long time.’

Over the course of five weeks between August and September 2024, he used Royal Mail to send poison packets to four victims in the UK, with the victims paying him just £100 each.

Nick Johnson KC told Mold Crown Court that in June 2024 Cross set up a business with a new email address, phone number and bank account to sell the deadly poison to aid suicide online. He asked the ‘customers’ for £100 in return.

The substance, which the Daily Mail did not name, is not illegal to purchase and is used in industry.

Cross showed no reaction as he was sentenced and taken to the cells this morning.

Judge Rhys Rowland told him: ‘Yours is a worrying case, you took it upon yourself to sell (the poison) to people you did not know, people who clearly had mental health problems and were therefore vulnerable.

‘To reiterate, you were selling (position) information to complete strangers that would be used to end someone else’s life.’

The judge said it was a ‘serious aggravating feature’ that Cross had no idea of ​​the sensitivity of his ‘clients’ or how driven or determined they were to harm them.

Cross sent the drug to Shubhreet Singh, 26, from Leeds, on August 22 last year.

He was handed over two days later and was found dead at an Air BnB in the city on September 3, having swallowed the substance.

Police discovered messages between her and Cross, who took a screenshot of her phone and asked her if she needed help finding the ‘source’ of the poison in the UK.

He replied: ‘Yes.’

A screenshot of the £100 payment to Miles Cross was also found.

Mr Johnson said he did not accept the Crown’s claims that Cross had joined the chat forum because he felt suicidal.

The lawyer said the chronology proved this was ‘clearly false’ and that Cross’s actions were an attempt to make money.

‘He created an email, bank account and phone number before joining the forum and obtaining (the poison)’ Mr Johnson said.

On August 28, the worried parents of another man, a 20-year-old man with mental health issues who cannot be named for legal reasons, intercepted another package sent from Cross.

But tragically, his 53-year-old father, who was also suffering from depression, disappeared days later and used it to kill himself.

The other two recipients (a man and a woman) did not receive the poison and survived.

The court heard Cross was arrested at his flat in Wrexham, North Wales, on January 13 last year and two barrels of poison were found in a bag in the spare bedroom.

Cross’s DNA was also discovered on the lid of one of the bathtubs.

A photo and video of the substance taken in August 2024 were also found on the iPad found in the apartment.

When questioned, Cross denied any involvement and refused to offer any assistance to officers who were concerned other members of the public might be at risk.

In a powerful victim impact statement, the widow of the dead 53-year-old man said she was left with ‘complete devastation and ongoing trauma’ following her husband’s death.

The mother of three children, who has been with her husband for 30 years, stated that she started having insomnia and nightmares since then and said: ‘I can sleep, but it is rare that I can sleep for more than three hours.

‘Lack of sleep leaves me unable to grieve, heal or work. I’m not the person I used to be.

‘I have terrible, vivid nightmares that stay with me throughout the day.

‘I’m worried in a way that’s hard to explain. ‘Once special days like Father’s Day or our anniversary remind me of my loss.’

He said his sons ‘blame themselves’ and are suffering from the loss of their father.

The woman added: ‘I estranged myself from my friends and family because they couldn’t understand what I was going through. ‘I can’t just put on a brave face, every aspect of my life has changed forever.’

Another woman who bought the substance testified that Cross ‘facilitated’ her taking the substance and ‘preyed’ on her when she was most vulnerable.

‘When I decided to purchase the substance I felt vulnerable, overwhelmed and silently struggling,’ she said.

‘This experience caused me serious emotional pain. I’m not in that mood anymore, but I’ve had to work hard to heal and move in a healthier direction.

‘The fact that it is so easy makes me think: If I hadn’t come to my senses, I wouldn’t be where I am today. This person…preyed on defenseless people like me. ‘The substance he advertised, sold and sent to me could have ended my life and seriously affected my family.’

The court heard that Cross, who served in the army for six years, had previous convictions for drug possession, failure to provide a breath sample and assault.

Duncan Bould, defending, said Cross did not dispute the prosecution’s chronology of events but claimed he suffered mental health problems due to childhood trauma and events he witnessed during a tour in Afghanistan, which led him to try to kill himself at least once.

The lawyer said Cross had previously used ‘large amounts of alcohol’ and tranquilizers to self-soothe his anxiety.

Mr Bould said he also lost his job in June 2024 and tried to kill himself shortly after receiving his last pay packet.

He said his girlfriend, who had been with Cross for 10 years, found him in his bedroom with a gas canister while overdosing on pills and whiskey.

“He offered to take her to hospital but she refused any medical assistance,” Mr Bould said.

Cross set up his poison-selling business the next day.

Mr Bould also claimed Cross felt guilty and was ‘genuinely remorseful’ for his offending.

At a hearing in November, Cross admitted four counts of encouraging or assisting in suicide.

It is understood to be the first time in UK legal history that a person has been prosecuted for selling poison to encourage a stranger to take his own life.

Alison Storey, a specialist prosecutor at the Crown Prosecution Service, told the Mail’s award-winning Trial+ podcast that Cross’s motivation appeared to be ‘to make money off other people’s misery’.

He was unemployed at the time of his crime.

‘In the summer of 2024, Cross started a small business; “He opened a bank account, got a new phone, a new e-mail address, and then ordered the product in bulk from abroad,” he said.

‘After doing all this he went to a forum to find ‘customers’; People with mental health problems, suicidal thoughts and then offering to provide them with medication to help them take their own lives.

‘He didn’t know these people. ‘He had no reason to offer to sell this drug to people other than to make a profit, however small.’

Ms Storey described the £100 Cross charged for the poison as ‘a very small sum for a life’.

‘In this case, the drug was given to four different people,’ he added. ‘One of these people took his life as a direct result of taking it.

‘In the other three cases, the three people provided are all alive and now have a different perspective. And that’s the danger of it. It’s not people (those who are targeted) who have a firm intention to die. Not people who are terminally ill and can’t face life.

‘They are young people who couldn’t cope with the situation at the time, but given time they can get their lives back together.’

Born in Basildon, Essex, in 1992, Cross joined the army after leaving school.

But six years ago, in February 2020, he was banned from driving for 17 months by magistrates in Ipswich after refusing a breath test.

Police stopped the then 27-year-old in Brandon, Suffolk, where he lived, and suspected him of driving under the influence. He was also fined £800.

It is unclear when Cross moved to North Wales but he was living in Wrexham with his girlfriend at the time of his crimes in August 2024.

Assistant Chief Constable Gareth Evans, of North Wales Police, said police were working with internet regulator Ofcom and using powers under the new Online Safety Act to block UK users from accessing the US-based forum that Cross used to track down his victims.

‘A big part of our strategy from the beginning was to try to prevent further damage,’ Mr Evans said.

‘We worked closely with the National Crime Agency and, using some powers in the new Online Safety Act, Ofcom managed to turn the private forum in the United States into one that you cannot access from the UK, and that remains the case now.

‘We have managed to prevent others from entering this forum and being subjected to behavior such as that exhibited by Cross. ‘Basically, he researched really vulnerable people who were suicidal, sold them a product and tried to encourage them to buy it.’

The case mirrors that of 60-year-old Canadian chef Kenneth Law, who is awaiting trial in Ontario, Canada, on similar charges.

He is charged with 28 offences, including 14 counts of murder and 14 counts of assisting or counseling suicide.

All the charges are linked to the deaths of people aged 16 to 36 across Ontario.

Canadian detectives allege Law operated a number of websites offering equipment and substances to help people end their lives.

The National Crime Agency (NCA) also accused Law, who denies wrongdoing, of sending packages to more than 270 Britons.

The NCA claims that 98 of these recipients later died, but they have not confirmed that a toxic substance was the direct cause of each death.

No charges were brought against Law in the UK.