Transcribe your podcast
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A suicide poison that's undetectable.

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I won't have to ask someone else to assess if I may die.

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Widely distributed.

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If I gave you the drug, I'd be in an Irish prison quite quickly, I suspect.

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The parents must respect the child's wishes to A Canadian man is appearing in court charged with aiding suicide. One man in custody.

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On the outside of your bodies, no signs that you have suicided or that someone has murdered you. This would be a murder investigation.

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How many others are getting away with it?

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These people are deliberately targeting the vulnerable, encouraging them to die.

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Hello. Welcome. This is a gathering of people planning their suicides. They're here to find out how to get poisons and how to use them to die. And how did you get it then? Illegally. Oh, I see.

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That's what the workshop will be about.

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The man at the front of the room goes by the nickname Dr. Death. His lecture, here in Ireland, is aimed at teaching people how to use poison for suicide.

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My concern is when people say that because some people might misuse it and do, young people, that no one should get that information.

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He boasts that his work has led to rising suicides.

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The rate just went up around the world, so we clearly are responsible for it.

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Do you feel bad about that now?

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It's a difficult question to answer.

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Dr. Death says he's helping the elderly and terminally ill, but he knows he's treading a fine line. We're about to set up.

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Now, if I gave you the drug, I'd be in an Irish prison quite quickly, I suspect. But if I tell you to go to this place and buy it, so far, that's not been considered to be a strong enough link to be in the breach of Irish law.

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Assisting suicide is illegal in many countries. In Ireland, just like in the UK, the penalty is up to 14 years in prison. Dr. Death's practical DIY suicide workshop is off limits to us.

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That'll be probably the end of any filming now, and I'll move straight on to the sensitive topic.

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People who sell poison for suicide are on guard after this man was arrested in Canada. Kenneth Law denies multiple second-degree murder charges. Police say he sold suicide poison kits to 1,200 people in 14 countries. Countries. In the UK, Sky News can reveal he's linked to 93 deaths. One of them was Tom Parfet.

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Yeah, he played for the same club.

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Tom was just 22 when he took his own life. His body was found in a hotel room. Next to him was poison he's believed to have bought from Kenneth Law.

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It is a type of grooming. I think in many ways, it's a pro-death of cult. These people are deliberately targeting the vulnerable, encouraging them to die.

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In the days after Tom's death, his father discovered the ease with which poison sellers target vulnerable people.

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I ordered the poison knowing that my son had taken it to end his own life. And honestly, I kept it, partly thinking, would I use it myself?

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But he can't. David told us he's handed the substance over to the police. A year after Tom's death, we discovered Kenneth Law could be just one of many poison sellers. So we're at the airport. We've got about half an hour until our flight. It feels a bit weird to say this out loud at an airport, but we're on our way to meet Europe's Kenneth Laws. We travel to the Netherlands to a suicide convention. Suicide It appears so non taboo here that a convention on it is allowed to take place in the same venue as the country's annual comic Con Festival. It's run by a group the Dutch public prosecutor has labeled a criminal organization. Several of its members operate outside of the law, selling homemade suicide kits. They say they're being compassionate, giving people autonomy over their deaths. This man has Poison at Home ready for his own suicide.

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When I'm done with life, I've read all the books I wanted to read, and I have seen all the films and all the ballets which I like to attend. My husband is dead, and my daughter, well, she's arrived in life, and she will understand that I want to end my life.

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. Skynews has been asked to hide some faces. Among the crowd, two people who have previously been jailed for assisting suicide, and one man who is convicted of selling suicide kits to 1,600 people. Talking openly isn't something this seller can do. He agrees to speak to us away from the main hall.

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I think it must be free to get without conditions. People are going to say, But somebody of 18 years old can get it, too? Yes. Why not?

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Like others we've he's met, he's sold over a hundred kits. We asked if he's ever cared what happens to people, and this is what he said.

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I don't want to even know the names of the people when they ask for it. They give a good motivation why they want to have it. Then I give it.

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He may not want to show his face, but he did let us see his books. Orders, prices, receipts. He's kept a record of his poisonous trade.

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I found out that I could easily buy it in England, and they send it by post. I have a lot in the house now, and it always stays good.

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You bought it from England?

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Yes. It's really very cheap.

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Sky News has decided not to name the substance they're trading. It doesn't kill instantly, but leaves no sign on the body when it does, and it's not traceable in a standard postmortem. In the UK, it's not illegal to possess or sell, but under assisted suicide laws, it is illegal to supply anything knowingly for suicide. Others are clearly profiting, but for Vim, it started after he watched his wife die with Alzheimer's.

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She had a horrific death, and that triggered me, and I wanted to help people to end their life in a humane way with dignity.

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Euthanasia is frequently used to justify what is essentially a crime, and Wim has been breaking Dutch law. How many people have you sold it to?

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More than 100, but I never said how much actually. It's more than 100. I sold it to Dutch people and in the UK to some, in the United States, one in Singapore, in Hong Kong.

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Do you understand why they want to make sure it doesn't get into their long hands?

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I don't want everybody to get it. I want the people, when they are in need and they want to die, that there is legislation in which it is possible to get it in the end.

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So that was unexpected. We came here thinking we'd find one poison seller. Instead, we've met several. Some have admitted that they've sold poisons to individuals in the UK. Some have been caught, others have gone to prison for it. Some speak really openly about the market. The market is crowded. Just before our flight home, we get a message from a seller nicknamed after the poisonous plant Lupin. She's among those who believe anyone of any age should have access to poisons. We challenge her on this and tell her about Tom Parfitt's death and the devastation that's had on his family. Listen to what she says.

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The parents must respect the child's wishes to die. I gave her my substance.

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Back in London, there's something worrying in one of our anonymous interviews from the Netherlands. Thank you. We ask a former Met Chief to have a listen. Thanks so much for coming in. Take a seat.

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I gave my substance to a friend of mine. She's also a nurse, and her father was 93 years old. He had different diseases, but he didn't get euthanasia because he was too far on mentally. I gave her substance. It's about three months ago. And she gave it to her father. And he died. And she didn't stay with him. She went to bed, and the next morning, She found him. She called the doctor, and the doctor said, yes, he's not sure about it. Because you have no, on the outside of your body, no signs that you have suicided or that someone has murdered Well, that's pretty shocking. It's interesting. He's used the phrase, Somebody has murdered you. I think this would be a murder investigation. I think the authorities are behind the curve.

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So what more can authorities here be doing?

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Well, I think You've spoken about Canada, you've spoken about the Netherlands. We know that this is happening in this country as well. So this needs to be international collaboration.

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It's the National Crime Agency that's leading the investigation here. It's been handed intelligence connected to the Canadian suspect. Nearly 300 individuals here in the UK are thought to have purchased poisons from him. Police forces across the country were then asked to check in on them and found that 90 had died. Sky News understands that three further deaths occurred after their names were originally flagged to UK authorities, leading to questions over whether vulnerable people are adequately protected. A front door kicked in, broken glass everywhere. This is a welfare check. Police were checking in on a man who told us he'd bought poison from Kenneth Law.

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Worst thing was with them, they called me an hour later to tell me- But he says he was constantly made to feel like a criminal. I just wanted to make sure that I was I guess, still existing. Once they'd done that, there was no interest in my welfare afterwards.

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Ben showed us what he said were email exchanges with Kenneth Law. He told us how he found him through online suicide forums.

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I was just really struggling, and I didn't know else to take it.

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I felt trapped with the feelings I was having. I didn't really feel like I was getting anywhere with the support I was trying to get. He's now having regular mental health support. But elsewhere, the misery created by a spiraling suicide trade continues. A pill or a powder, lethal substances are already in our societies, and nobody is checking. Sadia Chaudry, Skynews, Sky News.