Murder charges against Kenneth Law expected to be dropped, victim’s family condemns decision

Added: 2026-05-31

[00:00:00]Crown prosecutors are set to drop murder charges against Kenneth Law today.

[00:00:04]Kenneth Law is facing 14 first-degree murder charges for allegedly selling lethal substances to individuals who died by suicide. So, instead, in a plea deal, Kenneth Law is expected to plead guilty to 14 charges of a bait aiding or abetting suicide. He will also not face any charges in the UK, even though most of the people who are known to have died after consuming Law's products lived in the UK. David Parfitt's son, Tom, died by suicide in 2021. David joins us this morning from London. Good morning to you.

[00:00:37]>> Good morning.

[00:00:38]>> Our condolences for the loss of your son.

[00:00:41]How are you feeling about the plea deal?

[00:00:44]>> Uh mixed emotions. I I think it was a an opportunity to really set future standards for this type of online crime.

[00:00:54]Uh clearly, online safety is is a huge debate worldwide. And uh Law was enabled by an online website to commit these crimes. And and yet, that website is still available today. And unfortunately, I know of people who are still dying. Uh with typically young, vulnerable people who are accessing that website and being persuaded to take their own life.

[00:01:18]>> It's shocking it's still happening.

[00:01:20]According to Canada's Criminal Code, a first-degree murder conviction results in an automatic life sentence with no chance of parole for 25 years. So, an aiding or abetting suicide conviction, that carries a maximum sentence in this country of 14 years. Were you or any of the families consulted about this possibility?

[00:01:38]>> Uh we weren't consulted. Uh I would say we were informed. Uh we, or the majority of the families in the UK, received a letter yesterday detailing the next steps. Um which actually mean that uh unfortunately, Kenneth Law won't be facing charges in the UK. So, we won't be getting the opportunity to demonstrate again that this isn't just about Kenneth Law. There's a far wider problem here that governments and and legal enforcement teams are still not on top of.

[00:02:10]>> Were you surprised by the fact that he will not be facing charges in the UK?

[00:02:16]>> Yes, I was surprised. As you said in your introduction, there are actually 112 deaths related to Kenneth Law.

[00:02:24]Although that's a subset of the total deaths related to the websites and and the substance that he was promoting. In the UK, there's over at least a minimum of 165 deaths related to this. I also think that it's it's difficult for myself as a parent and for other families to not see that justice for what has been done to to our children and and to accept that that would be through the sentencing process in in Canada only.

[00:02:54]>> Can you tell us about your son, Tom?

[00:02:56]What was he like?

[00:02:57]>> He he makes me smile every time I I think about him, which I think is lovely. He he'd be really looking forward to the World Cup. He was a massive football fan.

[00:03:09]That would be pretty much all he was talking about at the moment if he was still with us. He he was a lovely kid.

[00:03:16]At his funeral, one of his teachers said he had an amazing moral compass. He was the type of person that would do no harm to others and I guess it's deeply upsetting that someone chose to probably make around 50 or 60 Canadian dollars um for supplying him a substance to end his life.

[00:03:35]>> I know, David, that you're calling on Canada and the UK to launch public inquiries into websites linked to deaths by suicide. What would What would that look like, exactly?

[00:03:43]>> I I think it's a a relatively modern problem and this is obviously a first of a kind case that is rather unique. And I think what I'm seeing in both countries is a lack of coordination across various bodies, whether it's government ministries or again law enforcement. As to give you an example, the people who are responsible for poisons law need to keep on top of what's being promoted as a substance people turn their own life, but that's related also the online safety piece where we can see that there are unfortunately trends emerge where new poisons are made available for people to take their own life and unfortunately there's communities of people that encourage people to do so.

[00:04:27]So so again, it needs a an understanding not just of each pillar, but of the overall problem. And of course, like anything, it needs proper resources put into this. I I think we're still in a situation where as you know, Kenneth Law was operating for nearly 2 years and it took a Times of London investigation to really open up the problem. I think we're still in that space. There are other people out there operating like this and yet we seem confused about how to deal with it. The the end result of this though is the Canadian government and UK government are failing in their duty to protect people. I unfortunately often find out about new parents who have suffered a bereavement due to suicide in a unbelievably similar way to to my son and I can't understand why that's happening nearly 5 years after my son died.

[00:05:20]>> I'm so sorry to hear that. And I know that after Tom died, you launched the Thomas William Parfitt Foundation that does campaign for online safety for children and youth. How are you hoping to prevent future tragedies through that work?

[00:05:33]>> It It is through talking to people such as yourself and I I guess helping people understand that problem is the first step. I as a parent was completely naive to some of these dangers in the online space. I I really thought that we would use the same same standards as we use in the real world about how we look after people, particularly people like someone with mental health issues in the online space, and we just don't. So, I'm I'm campaigning for primarily any website to have to be safe by design. And so, of course, we need communities that are online to to discuss suicide. It would be crazy to think that they're banned.

[00:06:12]I'm I'm not asking for that at all, but they need to be safe. They need to be uh communities that actually look at mental health recovery as a positive thing. So, every website owner should have a duty of care to make sure that their product is safe and should be looking at how to improve and make it safer as we go through, whether that's a social media product like an Instagram or or a website which is to discuss suicide.

[00:06:39]>> It's incredibly important work that you are doing, David Parfitt. We appreciate your time today.

[00:06:45]>> Thank you.

[00:06:46]>> If you or someone you know is in need of support, you can call or text Canada's Suicide Crisis Helpline at 988. That's 24 hours a day, available in English or French. We'll be right back.