Toronto-area man jailed for counseling suicide, causing 2 deaths

Police in Canada have arrested a man for selling a lethal substance to people at risk of self-harm and charged him with counseling suicide in the deaths of two Canadians.

Peel Regional Police said charges were laid Tuesday afternoon against Kenneth Law, 57, of Mississauga, Ont., following an investigation into two recent deaths in the area.

Law appeared briefly in a court in Brampton, Ont., on Wednesday and his case was adjourned until next week.

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Police said Law used a number of websites to market and sell sodium nitrite, a substance commonly used to cure meat but which can be deadly.

The Globe and Mail reported that Law confirmed before his arrest that he was selling sodium nitrite online, but denied any wrongdoing. “I’m selling a legal product, OK. And what does the person do with it? I have no control over it,” he said.

Police said their investigation found at least 1,200 packages had been illegally sent to more than 40 countries. Authorities did not specify what the packages contained, but Peel Regional Police Deputy Chief Marc Andrews urged anyone who received a shipment from Law to contact suicide hotlines and police.

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In Canada it is illegal for someone to recommend suicide, although assisted suicide has been legal since 2016 for people at least 18 years old. Any adult with a serious illness, disease or disability can ask for help in dying, but they must ask for it. assistance of a doctor.

The Canadian Press reported that a coroner’s report obtained from the United Kingdom appears to point to at least one suicide death in the United Kingdom linked to a post office box in Mississauga and a business name that police linked to Law .

Ontario Provincial Police have issued a public safety advisory about packages containing sodium nitrite being mailed across the province that may have been sent to people at risk of self-harm. At least one of these companies lists a Kenneth Law as the founder of the site.

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