Tanya Whitaker told a Canadian court that poison sold by Kenneth Law destroyed her family after Samuel Whitaker died. She made the remarks in a video statement at the start of the second day of a four-day sentencing hearing in Ontario.
Whitaker said her son was 19 when he was handed “the tools that ended his precious life.” She also said, “He barely had a chance.”
Ontario sentencing hearing
Whitaker’s statement was one of the victim-impact statements read this week as the hearing moved through families of British victims. The case centers on Kenneth Law, who admitted 14 counts of aiding suicide in Canada.
British authorities have said 79 UK victims also died after using his products. Authorities said Law sold about 1,200 packages of toxic substances to recipients from 40 different countries through online suicide forums, with roughly a quarter of the packages sent to the UK. Amy Winehouse poisoning inquest and Salisbury poisoning documentary are among other poison-related cases that have drawn public attention, though this hearing is focused on the families before the court.
Samuel Whitaker and Danielle Cornish
Samuel Whitaker was found collapsed outside his halls after taking poison sold by Law, and he was a University of Warwick student. Tanya Whitaker said on Thursday, “The enormity of losing a child is catastrophic” and “It has broken me completely and utterly. It has broken us as a family and me as a mother.”
Debbie Cornish, whose daughter Danielle Cornish also died after taking poison sold by Law, said in a written statement that “Words on paper can't even begin to describe the painful loss of our amazing daughter.” She added, “Nearly four years on, we are still fighting to keep our family together... not to mention the constant thoughts of how she may have died.”
Canadian Kenneth Law
The hearing has a narrow legal shape. Law’s plea deal with Canadian authorities means he will not face charges in the UK or over any British deaths, even as families from the UK continue to describe what his actions took from them.
That leaves the Ontario hearing focused on sentence, not trial, and on the families left to speak for the dead. Tanya Whitaker and Debbie Cornish have already done that in public, and the court is still working through impact statements before the hearing ends.
