Exclusive:Sister of man who died after buying poison online tells seller 'you took away my protector'
Poison seller Kenneth Law pleaded guilty to 14 counts of aiding suicide - but has many more victims’ lives on his hands.
The sister of a man who died after buying poison from Canada told him he “took away my protector”.
Kenneth Law, 60 of Mississauga, Ontario, pleaded guilty earlier this year to 14 counts of aiding suicide. These charges pertained to victims in Canada, but there were dozens of other people who died after purchasing from his online website.
According to the National Crime Agency, Law sold 330 packages to the UK, claiming the lives of 79 people. At Newmarket Court in Ontario, Law is now being sentenced.
Michael Dunham was one of three people who died in Hampshire after ingesting lethal poison that he had purchased from Kenneth Law’s website. He was found dead at a hotel on the Isle of Wight in October 2021.
His sister, Holly Arnavut, recorded a victim impact statement from a police station in Norfolk, which was played out in court.
She said: "To you, he was just a name on an envelope, but to the rest of us, he was a brother, an uncle and a friend.
"There are real-life consequences to your actions, Kenneth Law. You didn't just take my brother away, you took away my protector, and left me to explain it all to my seven-year-old son.
"You have changed the lives of everybody who loved Michael. My brother mattered, and still matters."
Two others in Hampshire, Joshua Warner and Aimee Walton, were also among Law’s victims. Although he has not been charged in relation to their deaths, they are listed in the court’s agreed facts, alongside the rest of the 1,209 packages the defendant shipped across the world.
Mr Warner, 21, died in January 2023 at Rosalind Franklin Halls in Guildhall Walk. He was a student at the University of Portsmouth at the time, studying psychology.
Miss Walton, from Southampton, was found dead by a friend in October 2022, in a hotel room where she had also ingested the substance sold by Law.
Among his younger victims was a 14-year-old boy, who is not being named by the court.
If you've been affected and bereaved by suicide, Cruse is a dedicated service providing free and confidential support across Portsmouth, Southampton, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight. Call 0330 555 0129, or visit supportaftersuicideship.org.uk
If you need urgent help with your mental health, there is free support available 24/7 from:
Samaritans - call 116 123
Shout - text HANTS to 85258
NHS - call 111 and select the mental health option, or in an emergency, call 999