Years after Kenneth Law’s arrest, a father who holds the Ontario man responsible for his son’s death by suicide says little has been done to rein in the online trade of lethal substances that continues to claim lives in Canada and abroad.
David Parfett, whose 22-year-old son Tom took his own life in 2021 after allegedly purchasing a substance from a website linked to Law, says he is concerned authorities have not learned from the case that has cast an international spotlight on deadly gaps in online regulation.
“Canadians are still dying yet those deaths should have been prevented with lessons learned from the Law case,” Parfett, who lives in the United Kingdom and is not part of the Canadian legal case, said in a message to The Canadian Press earlier this week.
“Harmful internet platforms that aren’t illegal but are associated with an astonishing level of harm continue to be accessed on cellphones and laptops in Canada.”
Law is accused of selling lethal substances online to people who later used them to take their own lives. He was set to stand trial in Newmarket, Ont., last month on 14 counts each of first-degree murder and aiding suicide.
The murder charges against him are now expected to be withdrawn Friday, with Law instead pleading guilty to the lesser charges of aiding suicide.
Under the Criminal Code of Canada, those found guilty of aiding suicide can face up to 14 years in prison, while first-degree murder carries an automatic sentence of life in prison with no chance of parole for 25 years.
Law’s defence lawyer, Matthew Gourlay, gave notice of the plea deal last month, though he provided no details on how it materialized, saying only that more would be known “in due course” in court.
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News of the expected plea came after the trial had been pushed back multiple times to wait for a Supreme Court of Canada decision in a separate matter that prosecutors and the defence believed would impact the case.
Canada’s top court delivered the decision last December, but declined to “conclusively resolve” what it called the “abstract legal issue” in the appeal, which related to the circumstances under which murder charges can be laid against people who aid in suicides.
Parfett, who has spent the last several years advocating for stricter internet regulation to help prevent further harm, said he suspected something like a plea deal was on the horizon when the trial was again delayed earlier this year.
Still, he said, hearing media reports give weight to his suspicions last month nonetheless came as a shock.
“I find it really difficult to understand why it wasn’t put in front of a jury, for a jury to decide,” he said in an interview at the time.
“I think it was extremely important to do so, and you guys in Canada were going to lead the way in making sure that there was a clear message that just because you can use the internet to cause harm internationally doesn’t mean that you get away with it.”
Governments also need to put resources toward understanding and stopping these sites, otherwise vulnerable people will remain at risk, Parfett said, adding he would like to work with Canadian regulators and politicians to tackle the problem.
He expressed surprise that Canada hasn’t called a public inquiry into the issue, which he said “certainly needs a top-level government investigation with an obligation to resolve things.”
A spokesperson for federal Minister of Public Safety Gary Anandasangaree last month declined to comment on the possibility of a public inquiry in the matter, citing the ongoing court case.
“These allegations against Mr. Law are deeply concerning. Our thoughts are with the victims’ families and loved ones as they go through this unimaginable ordeal,” Simon Lafortune said in an email.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s office did not respond to a request for comment in April, or a second request this week.
Law was arrested in 2023 and initially charged with two counts of counselling or aiding suicide, with investigators broadening the scope of their investigation over time to bring additional and more serious charges against him.
Police have alleged that he ran several websites that were used to sell sodium nitrite and other items that can be used for self-harm, shipping some 1,200 packages to people in more than 40 countries. About 160 of those were allegedly sent to addresses in Canada, they said.
All charges against him related to the same 14 people across Ontario, who were between the ages of 16 and 36.
A New Zealand coroner found that four people who died by suicide in that country had ordered items online from a business associated with Law, but noted that Law’s activities are outside the jurisdiction of the New Zealand courts.
Britain’s National Crime Agency has also said it is investigating the deaths of dozens of people in the United Kingdom who bought products from Canadian-based websites allegedly linked to Law.
Parfett said he would like to see Law extradited to the U.K. to face charges there, including in the death of his son.
“My son had a really good chance of still being here, if it wasn’t for Law,” he said.
A spokesperson for Canada’s justice department said they could not comment on whether any extradition requests had been made regarding Law, saying such requests are considered confidential state-to-state communications.
If you or someone you know is thinking about suicide, support is available 24/7 by calling or texting 988, Canada’s national suicide prevention helpline.
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