NCA, CPS Rule Out Extradition for Kenneth Law
The National Crime Agency and Crown Prosecution Service have told bereaved families they will not seek to extradite kenneth law to the UK after his Canadian case ends. Law, a 60-year-old Canadian defendant, is due in court on Friday in Ontario and is expected to plead guilty to aiding suicide.
NCA and CPS Decision
In a letter to families, the two agencies said they agreed that Law should be sentenced for the full extent of his offending in one process in Canada. They wrote: "After careful assessment, we agreed that Mr Law should be sentenced for the full extent of his offending within a single sentencing process in Canada."
They also said: "This approach is not unusual in cases involving serious offending that crosses international borders." And they told families: "We recognise that this may be painful to hear, and that some victims and bereaved families may have hoped to see a separate prosecution in England and Wales."
Law's UK Packages
An NCA investigation into Canadian websites found that 286 individuals had received packages in the UK, and those packages led to 112 deaths. Law was accused of selling 1,200 suicide packages across 40 countries, including the UK. His lawyers confirmed last month a plea agreement under which previous murder charges would be withdrawn.
Families' Response
Adele Zeynep Walton, whose sister Aimee died in 2022 at age 21 after buying one of the suicide kits from Law's website, said: "It’s absolutely insane that the NCA and CPS are not going to do anything about it. It is so insulting." She added: "When have we ever had people using the internet in order to target and seek out vulnerable people and assist them systematically in suicide? This is a new epidemic of assisted suicide. I think the approach of the NCA and CPS needs to adapt with the times."
David Parfett, father of 22-year-old Thomas Parfett, said: "I am angry, but I am not surprised. For months, we have been told that the system is working and that existing measures are enough. They are not." He called for a public inquiry, saying: "If our own country will not put anyone on trial for these deaths, the very least it can do is hold a proper inquiry into how they were allowed to happen."
Andy Burrows, chief executive of the Molly Rose Foundation, said: "Bereaved families have been campaigning tirelessly to hold Kenneth Law to account in the UK and to be told he will not be prosecuted here on the eve of his court case in Canada is a bitter blow." He added: "Families up and down the country have been impacted by Law’s crimes and should have the right to full justice in the UK." Last month, the government rejected calls for a public inquiry into the issue, and the families' campaign now shifts fully to the Canadian case that will decide Law's sentence.
