British regulators have attempted to shut down a website where people can advertise themselves as “suicide partners” that is believed to be involved in 130 British deaths.
The site has a members-only forum where users can search for someone willing to commit this horrific act with them. Some travel abroad to do so.
There are also forums on the site where people provide instructions on how to commit suicide and encourage others to do the same.
A 28-year-old man from the Midlands committed suicide next to a woman he met on the site who lived in Scotland. Another woman who committed suicide after using the forum was found dead ‘lying next to a complete stranger’.
A BBC investigation found that more than 700 Britons had posted messages on the website, with more than 500 comments left by users from around the world.
Under the Online Safety Act, any online content that promotes suicide and self-harm is illegal, and regulator Ofcom must take action to ban it.
Melanie Dawes, director of online regulator Ofcom, said the site had been contacted and informed the content was “illegal”.
“Initially the website was no longer available to users in the UK, but they have now reversed that,” she said, adding that it is “quite difficult” to take strong action given that the website is based in the US.
The BBC spoke with several relatives of Britons who had visited the website before their suicide.
One of them is Angela Stevens, whose 28-year-old son Brett committed suicide in December 2019, along with a woman he met on the website.
He had travelled from his home in the Midlands to Scotland to meet her and the couple rented an Airbnb apartment, where they eventually died.
Mrs Stevens has been investigating the pro-suicide website since her son’s horrific death, comparing 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 downright disgusting.”
In the UK, around 5,000 people commit suicide each year, with men aged 50 to 54 being the most vulnerable group.
Another affected woman is Helen Kite. Her sister Linda posted a message on the site in 2023 looking for a partner.
Linda met a man she connected with through her message at a hotel in Romford, East London.
They ingested a toxic chemical and died together in July 2023. Her body was reportedly found “next to the body of a complete stranger.”
To make matters worse, Kite’s other sister, Sarah, was so traumatized by Linda’s death that she visited the same website, ingested the same toxic substance as her sister, and died in September 2023.
The research also found that vulnerable people who visit the website are targeted by criminals who encourage suicidal behaviour.
A 31-year-old man, Craig McInally, was found to have given ‘advice and help’ to suicidal young women. A 25-year-old woman was given the chance to do ‘suicide exercises’, among other things.
The mother of a woman targeted by McInally said: ‘It’s like something out of a horror movie, from another world.
“I couldn’t believe a website like this even existed. They’re sick minds.”
The investigation identified two cases where men from the US had met a suicidal British woman on the website and travelled to the UK to meet her.
In one case, a Minnesota man claimed he was “asleep” when the 21-year-old woman he had flown in to meet ingested a toxic chemical and died on the 11th day he stayed with him in a hotel.
The BBC found two cases where men from the US had met a British woman on the forum and flown to her to participate in her suicide.
When the man realized what she had done, he called emergency services.
He was arrested and questioned by police, but was released without charge and allowed to fly home.
In a second case, a Florida man is said to have met with four people, including a Briton, and given one of them a gun.
This man also admitted that he flew to London to meet a young British woman at a hotel.
Under the new Online Safety Act, which comes into full effect later this year, websites that encourage self-harm and suicide will be illegal.
Under the new law, Ofcom will be responsible for policing such harmful online content.
It is still unclear exactly how the organization will do this.
In a statement to the BBC, a government spokesperson said the government stands behind the new law and is “committed to taking action to stop this online harm.”
“We want to implement this new protection as quickly as possible.”
