Canadian police probing 'suicide kits' sent to Montreal residents

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: The Guardian
12 Sep 2023 23:27

Under Canada's Criminal Code, anyone who encourages or helps another person to commit suicide can be sentenced to up to 14 years in prison.

Kenneth Law. (Peel regional police handout)

An investigation has been launched by Canadian authorities into the alleged mailing of "suicide kits" to residents in Montreal, Quebec, The Guardian reported on Tuesday.

The sender of these kits, named Kenneth Law, is already facing over a dozen criminal charges. According to Montreal police, they suspect that Law, aged 57, sent packages containing a deadly substance to individuals in who may be at risk of suicide.

Authorities have advised residents to remain vigilant as the investigation progresses.

Law, who was arrested in May, is charged with 14 counts related to deaths in Ontario, where the victims are between 16 and 36 years old.

"Advising, encouraging or helping a person to kill themselves is an offence under the criminal code and is punishable by imprisonment," the Montreal police said in a statement, adding it was "calling for vigilance."

Under Canada's Criminal Code, anyone who encourages or helps another person to commit suicide can be sentenced to up to 14 years in prison.

A month ago, the National Crime Agency (NCA) in the UK disclosed its ongoing investigation into suspected criminal activities attributed to Law, linking him to 88 deaths in Britain.

Authorities have indicated that packages purportedly sent to Montreal might bear the following company names on their labels: Academic/ACademic, Escape Mode/escMode, Imtime Cuisine, AmbuCA, and ICemac.

Police in Ontario believe that about 160 of the 1,200 packages allegedly mailed by Law were sent to Canadian addresses. The investigation is ongoing and involves 11 police jurisdictions in Ontario, as well as two cities in Saskatchewan, Calgary, and a division of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in British Columbia.

Law is alleged to be linked to more than 100 deaths in total.

Kenneth Law, 57, is a Canadian chef working at a high-end hotel and a former aerospace engineer. He was charged in May with two counts of aiding suicide after admitting to an undercover reporter that many of his customers had died.

Despite Law's denial of reports suggesting he knowingly sold products to facilitate suicide, he appeared in court once more for a bail hearing on Friday, as prosecutors seek to consolidate all cases into a single court venue.