By David Young-
Google and Amazon must act after a British woman made a suicide pact with two people she met online and took her own life with poison purchased on the internet, a coroner has warned.
Chloe Macdermott, 43, died after ingesting an unnamed ‘product’ ordered from the United States on Amazon in 2021. She had been struggling with her mental health for several years before she began researching ways to end her life on an online forum, an inquest at Inner West London Coroner’s Court was told earlier this month.
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Two days before her death, she ‘formed an association’ with two people with whom she planned suicide. A day later, she contacted them while her husband was away and ‘an agreement was made to act that night’. She ingested the substance at about midnight and died from its effects the next morning.
Coroner Paul Rogers, recording a conclusion of suicide, has issued a prevention of future deaths report to Google and Amazon and said he believes they have the power to stop a similar tragedy from happening.
The report has also been sent to the Home, Health and Culture secretaries alongside the national lead for suicide prevention at the National Police Chiefs Council.
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Chloe Macdermott, 43, took her own life using an unnamed ‘product’ ordered from the United States in 2021
She had made an agreement on the night of her death to carry out the act with fellow members of an online forum that ‘encouraged’ suicide
Chloe (right), who was married, had been ‘struggling with her mental health for some years’ and had used the internet to research ways to end her life
Mr Rogers said it is a ‘matter of concern’ that the forum Ms Macdermott used and others like it ‘encourage suicide, assist it by provision of information about suicide methods, counsel suicide by providing information about it and thereby potentially facilitate the commission of a criminal offence in the United Kingdom’.
In a Prevention of Future Deaths report, Mr Rogers highlighted that the unnamed website used by Mrs Macdermott had no age, or other restrictions, in place to prevent access to children, vulnerable teenagers and vulnerable adults.
He also flagged how there was no ‘prominent signposting’ offering help and there was a lack of ‘effective administration’ removing the harmful content on the website.
He said: ‘[REDACTED] is a forum that permits material to be exchanged and viewed within its open chatrooms whereby suicide is encouraged, assisted, counselled and procured through the provision and exchange of information and methods.
‘No age or other restrictions are in place to prevent access to children, vulnerable teenagers and vulnerable adults. No prominent signposting is in place to organisations from whom help is available to prevent suicide.
‘Posts are made by users containing details of methods of suicide without any effective administration to remove such harmful content.’
Mr Rogers also questioned how Mrs Macdermott was able to purchase, and later ingest, a product – the nature of which is redacted in his report – on Amazon which caused her to die.
He raised concerns over the ‘availability’ of such products on the internet and how they could be purchased from the United States for individual use – without ‘effective border and/or custom controls’.
‘Chloe was able to purchase the product used over the internet and have it delivered to her home in the UK.
Enquiries showed the product was purchased using Amazon in the United States,’ Mr Rogers said. Macdermott, 43, has taken her own life as a result of a suicide pact formed with two individuals she met on the internet.
The incident has prompted the coroner, Paul Rogers, to issue a stark warning to tech giants Google and Amazon, urging them to take decisive action to prevent similar tragedies.
Chloe Macdermott’s story took place during an inquest at Inner West London Coroner’s Court earlier this month.
The 43-year-old had been grappling with mental health issues for several years and, tragically, succumbed to the effects of an unnamed “product” ordered from the United States through Amazon in 2021.
The inquest revealed that two days before her death, Chloe had established an association with two individuals via an online forum, where discussions revolved around encouraging suicide.
A day later, as her husband was away, an agreement was made to act on their shared plan that night. Chloe ingested the substance around midnight and tragically passed away the next morning.
Coroner Paul Rogers, in recording a conclusion of suicide, issued a prevention of future deaths report to Google and Amazon, underlining his belief that these tech giants possess the power to prevent similar tragedies.
The report has also been forwarded to Home, Health, and Culture secretaries, along with the national lead for suicide prevention at the National Police Chiefs Council.
Mr. Rogers expressed deep concern over forums like the one Chloe engaged with, stating that they “encourage suicide, assist it by the provision of information about suicide methods, counsel suicide by providing information about it, and thereby potentially facilitate the commission of a criminal offense in the United Kingdom.”
In the Prevention of Future Deaths report, Mr. Rogers emphasized the lack of age or other restrictions on the unnamed website used by Chloe, allowing unrestricted access to children, vulnerable teenagers, and vulnerable adults.
He pointed out the absence of prominent signposting for help and a lack of effective administration to remove harmful content.
The coroner’s report raised serious questions about how Chloe was able to purchase and ingest the fatal product obtained from the United States via Amazon.
Mr. Rogers questioned the “availability” of such products on the internet and the potential dangers of purchasing them without “effective border and/or custom controls.”
The case of Chloe Macdermott underscores the need for urgent action to address the dangers posed by online forums that promote self-harm and the sale of harmful products on major e-commerce platforms.
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