UK regulators have attempted to shut down a website that allows people to advertise themselves as ‘suicide partners’, and is thought to be involved in 130 British deaths.
The website hosts a ‘member’s only’ forums where users can search for someone to join them in the devastating act — with some travelling abroad to do so.
There are also forums on the site where commentors offer instructions on how to die by suicide and encourage others to do the same.
One 28 year-old man from the Midlands took his own life alongside a woman he’d met on the website who lived in Scotland. Another woman who killed herself after using the forum was found dead ‘lying next to a total stranger’.
A BBC investigation has discovered more than 700 Brits have posted on the webpage, and more than 500 comments have been published by users across the world.
According to the Online Safety Act, all online content relating to promotion of suicide and self harm is illegal – and watchdog Ofcom must take steps to shut it down.
Melanie Dawes, chief executive of online regulator Ofcom said the site had been contacted and informed that the content was ‘illegal’.
‘Initially they stopped it being available for UK users, but they’ve gone back on that now,’ she said, adding that it is ‘pretty hard’ to take firm action as the website is based in the US.
The BBC spoke with several bereaved Brits whose loved ones had visited the website prior to their suicide.
One is Angela Stevens, whose 28 year-old son Brett took his own life in December 2019 alongside a woman he had met on the website.
He’d travelled from his home in the Midlands to Scotland to meet her, and the pair rented an Airbnb, where they eventually died.
Ms Stevens has spent the years since her son’s horrific death researching the pro-suicide webpage and likens it to a dark dating app.
‘It’s a very dangerous place,’ she told the BBC.
‘Where else would you go to find a partner to take your own life with? It’s just absolutely vile.’
Around 5,000 people take their own life every year in the UK, with men aged 50-54 the most vulnerable group.
Another woman affected is Helen Kite, whose sister Linda posted on the site in 2023 looking for a partner.
Linda met a man she connected with via her post at a hotel in Romford, East London.
They consumed a toxic chemical and died together in July 2023. Her body was said to be found ‘lying next to the body of a total stranger’.
Devastatingly, Ms Kite’s other sister Sarah was so traumatised by Linda’s death that she visited the same website, ingested the same toxic substance as her sister, and died in September 2023.
The investigation also discovered that vulnerable people who visit the website are being targetted by predators who encourage suicidal behaviours.
One 31 year-old man — Craig McInally — was found to have given ‘advice and assistance’ to suicidal young women, including offering one 25 year-old woman suicide ‘practise’.
The mother of one woman targetted by McInally said: ‘It’s like something from a horror movie, from another world.
‘I couldn’t believe that a website like this would even exist. They’re sick minds.’
The investigation discovered two cases where men from the US had met a suicidal British woman on the website and travelled to meet them in the UK.
In one case, a man from Minnesota claimed he was ‘asleep’ when the 21-year-old woman he’d flown to meet ingested a toxic chemical and died on the 11th day of staying in a hotel with him.
The BBC found two cases in which men from the US had met a British woman on the forum and flown to meet them to participate in their suicide.
The man called the emergency services when he realised what she had done.
He was arrested and questioned by police but was released without charge and allowed to fly home.
In a second case, a man from Florida is believed to have arranged to meet four people, including one Brit, and is reported to have given one a gun.
This man has also admitted to flying to London to meet a young British woman at a hotel.
According to the new Online Safety Act, which comes into full force at the end of this year, websites that encourage self harm and suicide are illegal.
Under the new legislation, Ofcom will be responsible for policing such harmful content online.
However, how exactly the organisation will do this remains unclear.
In a statement given to the BBC, a Government spokesperson said it is committed to the new law and ‘determined to take action to stop this harm online.’
‘We want to get these new protections in place as soon as possible.’
