Thomas Parfett, 22, died in 2021 after taking poison purchased from Kenneth Law.
The father of a student who killed himself with a poison supplied by a Canadian man has said there is no “justice” for his son after prosecutors announced the seller will not face charges in the UK.
Philosophy student Thomas Parfett, 22, died in Sunbury-on-Thames, Surrey, in 2021, after taking poison bought from Kenneth Law, who admitted charges of aiding suicide.
The 60-year-old appeared in court in Ontario, Canada, on Friday when he pleaded guilty to 14 counts, all relating to Canadian victims.
The National Crime Agency (NCA) and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said 79 UK victims who died as a direct result of purchasing Law’s products will form part of the wider case into his offending.
Authorities informed the victims’ families that Law would not face criminal proceedings in the UK because of the potential for Law to challenge the extradition after being convicted of similar offences in Canada.
Thomas’s father David said the decision not to bring charges against Law in the UK was “done to me, not with me”, and “in no way” brings justice for his son.
He told the Press Association: “He’s not ever been charged with a crime against Tom. Yet this is the man that made £50 from selling my son a substance to kill himself, probably having persuaded him to do so, and yet he will never face charges.”
He added: “It doesn’t send the right message to other people that are doing the same thing, typically using internet sites.”
Mr Parfett said Law was able to advertise his products online, thanks to people running “nefarious” websites in the UK.
He added that his son, a student at the University of St Andrews, accessed an online “suicide” forum before he died, where he was encouraged by other users to kill himself.
“There’s others who should be prosecuted and nobody is taking the action,” Mr Parfett said.
“We actually need to look at this seriously. We need to make sure that we change our processes. For instance, when you investigate a suicide of a young man like Tom, it should be a matter of course to capture the digital footprint.”
The 58-year-old called for tougher internet regulations and changes to make it harder to purchase poison online.
He has joined the families of other victims to demand a public inquiry to establish the “lessons” from deaths such as Thomas’s.
Mr Parfett said: “We accept things on the internet that aren’t acceptable on the high street. Where else would you be able to provide somebody with detailed instructions of how to kill themselves?
“Would you walk into a bookstore to do that? I think that bookstore would be prosecuted, and yet we allow this to happen on the internet.
“Then we get ourselves into a regulatory twist about how to deal with it, while people continue to die – it’s just not good enough.
“It’s a complex issue, and that’s why it needs the public inquiry – because you have to bring people together.”
Mr Parfett, a data architect from Twickenham, south-west London, said Law did “horrendous damage” to his family, adding his son would “very likely still be here” if Law had not been trying to make money.
Since Canadian authorities dropped more serious murder charges against Law, Mr Parfett is concerned his sentence will not be tough enough.
The maximum sentence for aiding suicide in Canada is 14 years – the same as for encouraging suicide in the UK.
It is understood that the sentence is likely to be more than 14 years because of the number of victims and the nature of the offences.
“I hope that he has had the chance to understand the damage he’s caused,” Mr Parfett said.
“I hope he is remorseful of the fact that he has exchanged lives for money. But I’ve not yet seen that remorse, and to me he would still remain a danger after the sentencing.”
He added: “I’d like to be in a position to be able to forgive him. I’m not today, but I’d like to be in a position to forgive him.
“I certainly couldn’t do that today, because, again, I’m not convinced he understands. But I’d like to think that he thinks about Tom sometimes.”
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