A senior coroner has issued a warning following the deaths of 45 people who bought a poisonous substance online.
Timothy Brennand said a further 40 people were known to have purchased the chemical ‘with a view to having the means to use this method to end their life in circumstances’ – and warned online forums were promoting its use.
In a series of Prevention of Future Deaths reports concerning a ‘cluster’ of eight deaths in his region, the Manchester West coroner did not identify the poison except to say it is a food preservative which can be used in meat curing.
But he also warned it was also a ‘reportable poison as well as a reportable explosives precursor’.
The deaths Mr Brennand investigated included that of Kelly Walsh, a 45-year-old businesswoman who was the girlfriend of ex-footballer Andy Woodward, the first victim to waive his anonymity to publicly accuse the late paedophile football coach Barry Bennell of child sexual abuse.
Bolton Coroner’ Court heard Ms Walsh died after taking a poisonous substance bought online at her home in Atherton, Greater Manchester, in February 2021.
The other deaths investigated by the coroner were of Matthew O’Reilly, 18, who died at his student accommodation in Salford in September 2020, Samuel Dickinson, 33, Matthew Price, 37, from Bolton, Chantelle Williams, who died in May 2020 in Salford, Shaun Bass, 23, from Bolton, Andrew Brown, 45, from Wigan and William Armstrong, 24, from Horwich, Bolton.
Mr Armstrong died at a local hotel after sourcing the unnamed chemical online from a Russian vendor.
Kelly Walsh was the girlfriend of ex-footballer Andy Woodward, the first victim to waive his anonymity to publicly accuse coach Barry Bennell of child sexual abuse
The coroner said that reporting restrictions had previously been imposed on the cases due to an ‘ongoing criminal investigation in the United Kingdom, Europe and the United States of America’.
Mr Brennand said a police investigation into one UK-based business found it had supplied 247 customers around the UK and Europe in a 12-month period.
Police established that 45 purchasers in the UK and Europe ‘were confirmed as deceased…and only 15 purchases were confirmed to have taken place for legitimate purposes (meat curing etc.)’
In all 247 transactions, the coroner said: ‘The vendors of the (poison) 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.
In his reports to Yvette Cooper, the Home Secretary, and local police, ambulance and mental health officials in the North West, the coroner warned that current Home Office guidance does not ‘reference (the poison) 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.’
He said the purchase of small quantities of the poison ‘is being presumed to be connected to the many legitimate uses of the substance…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.’
Ms Walsh was found to have ordered the poison ‘from an internet-based supplier in Lithuania’
The inquest into Ms Kelly’s death heard she purchased an unnamed poisonous substance after seeking out advice on an online forum which described itself as a ‘safe space’.
Mr Brennand warned about the prevalence of such websites that ‘promoted information as to how to access’ prepare and use poisons that could bring about death.
Ms Walsh was found to have ordered the poison ‘from an internet-based supplier in Lithuania’. Her actions were ‘deliberate and intentional’ and she had a declining mental health.
The coroner said Mr O’Reilly died from a ‘deliberate act of recent self-ingestion’.
Mr Dickenson died in March 2020 in Wigan having left a suicide note. An opened sachet bag was found next to him. The coroner redacted the name of the substance it contained, but said it had been sourced the previous month from an online firm licenced to sell such controlled poisons.
Mr Bass died in February 2020 having sourced a poison in similar fashion. He had suffered from depression and anxiety.
The coroner said tests found that Mr Price had consumed a ‘significant and fatally toxic quantity’ of the unnamed substance, having sent an email to family members which ‘contained unequivocal expressions of the deceased’s intention.’
Mr Brown, who had a history of mental health conditions, was found dead in August 2023 in circumstances that puzzled investigators as his motive still remains ‘unclear’.
The coroner said the most likely scenario that led to his death was a ‘fleeting, ill-considered, irrational self-harming ideation’.
Mr Armstrong, 24, had shown symptoms of a psychotic illness and ingested poison after checking into a hotel. He called 999 to report what happened but it took 89 minutes for the ambulance to arrive, by which time he was dead.
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.
The Home Office is required to respond within 56 days of the coroner’s report.
