Mums march on Westminster in bid to shut down suicide websites
TWO mothers whose sons took their own lives are joining forces to pile pressure on the Government to ban websites selling 'death in a bag' suicide kits.
Patti Boyle, 54, of Purley, and Joanna Lane, 64, of Coulsdon, will march on Westminster today armed with a petition to demand ministers shut down websites "earning money from the death of our children".
The mothers' demands come days after the Government announced a new suicide-reducing strategy, ring-fencing £1.5 million to research possible preventable measures, but which stops short of exploring the advantages of an outright ban on suicide websites.
Mrs Boyle, whose son Kevin – a high-profile chef trained by Jamie Oliver who took his own life after ordering a suicide kit online aged 26 – said: "I want to see suicide websites banned. I want them stopped at point of entry to the UK.
Business Cards From Only £10.95 Delivered www.myprint-247.co.uk
View detailsOur heavyweight cards have FREE UV silk coating, FREE next day delivery & VAT included. Choose from 1000's of pre-designed templates or upload your own artwork. Orders dispatched within 24hrs.
Terms: Visit our site for more products: Business Cards, Compliment Slips, Letterheads, Leaflets, Postcards, Posters & much more. All items are free next day delivery. www.myprint-247.co.uk
Contact: 01858 468192
Valid until: Sunday, May 26 2013
"These websites are defended under the auspices of freedom of speech which unfortunately means these people take this to mean they can do what they want. But they can't.
"These people are earning money from the death of our children.
"I want the people selling these web kits brought to justice because in this country assisted suicide is against the law.
"It's about time the Government stands up and does the job we pay it to do and introduces a ban."
Mrs Boyle, who revealed the website Kevin used was traced to Honduras, Central America, is calling for a blanket internet service provider filter which effectively bans access anywhere in the UK.
The 54-year-old lecturer, of Old Lodge Lane, is currently on an awareness-raising March For Life – a hike from Northern Ireland, where Kevin is buried, to Parliament – where she will present the petition to ministers on Wednesday.
Mrs Lane, of Southwood Avenue, whose son Christopher took his own life in 2008 aged 31, after ordering a book on the internet, will also use the Government's announcement to push for stricter laws.
She said: "Christopher was able to do it very easily. Me and Patti were both parents at Reedham Park School and we feel very strongly about this.
"Although Christopher didn't buy a 'death in a bag' kit, I feel sure he would have now, and I feel very strongly these sites should be banned.
"People argue that people who want to kill themselves will do anyway, but it makes it so quick and easy.
"People can feel suicidal on a Monday and be dead on the Tuesday without having any cooling off period or any time to reconsider what they are doing.
"I think changing legislation will save lives. It will certainly give families more time to step in and understand what is happening."
The Government's strategy review, announced on Monday, will consider increasing the "availability and take-up of effective parental controls to reduce access to harmful websites", but stops short of considering an outright ban.
Around 4,200 people commit suicide every year, with the rate highest amongst men aged 35 to 49.
Comments
by Casper
Tuesday, September 25 2012, 10:36PM
“I hope these ladies manage to make a difference and I know how they are feeling as my son took his life last year. These "kits" should be made illegal and anyone involved in the websites or promoting suicide in anyway should be prosecuted. I think when people use online search engines to find these sites they should be automatically redirected to support groups and organisations offering advice. My son was coerced into taking his life, due to his fragile state of mind he went through with it. I also feel that the authorities need to change their approach to suicide cases as through my own experiences they tend to look down on suicide victims and their families and as a result are reluctant in some cases to investigate fully. Suicide is the largest cause of death in young men which should be indication enough that something needs to be done & done now.”
by Casper
Tuesday, September 25 2012, 10:35PM
“I hope these ladies manage to make a difference and I know how they are feeling as my son took his life last year. These "kits" should be made illegal and anyone involved in the websites or promoting suicide in anyway should be prosecuted. I think when people use online search engines to find these sites they should be automatically redirected to support groups and organisations offering advice. My son was coerced into taking his life, due to his fragile state of mind he went through with it. I also feel that the authorities need to change their approach to suicide cases as through my own experiences they tend to look down on suicide victims and their families and as a result are reluctant in some cases to investigate fully. Suicide is the largest cause of death in young men which should be indication enough that something needs to be done & done now.”
by Casper
Tuesday, September 25 2012, 10:34PM
“I hope these ladies manage to make a difference and I know how they are feeling as my son took his life last year. These "kits" should be made illegal and anyone involved in the websites or promoting suicide in anyway should be prosecuted. I think when people use online search engines to find these sites they should be automatically redirected to support groups and organisations offering advice. My son was coerced into taking his life, due to his fragile state of mind he went through with it. I also feel that the authorities need to change their approach to suicide cases as through my own experiences they tend to look down on suicide victims and their families and as a result are reluctant in some cases to investigate fully. Suicide is the largest cause of death in young men which should be indication enough that something needs to be done & done now.”
by swsquires1
Wednesday, September 19 2012, 9:52AM
“This opens an interesting debate and I am not quite sure where I stand. On the one hand we cannot allow people to buy suicide kits over the internet, but on the other if you ban free speech then you are heading down the road of China and a big brother state.
My personal view is that if you start to ban what people can and can't see (aside from child pornography which should be banned obviously) then all sorts of pressure groups will start to campaign for this site or that site to be banned and closed. You will have religious groups doing similar looking for sites questioning their faith to be closed or filtered.
To counter this, if something is illegal then there is a clear case for it to be controlled. Whilst these poor parents are obviously trying to deal with the pain that they have felt (and trying to prevent others from experiencing the same) I am not sure I fully support their argument in this particular case.
To me the answer is better parental controls via security software or from the internet service provider. Allow the production of summary reports that parents can run showing sites visited by their children, this would help. In this article though the men involved were 26 and 31 so it would not have helped their case.
This is an emotive case and my sympathies are with their parents. I think most people have at least one close friend from their life who has committed suicide. Personally, one of my best friends committed suicide at 18 years of age and I saw the damage it did to those left behind.”