Hera, Content writer, Headline Diplomat eMagazine
Several mothers are fighting to shut down a suicide website that encouraged their sons to take their lives.
Joe Nihill’s death
The first story is of a young man from Leeds who committed suicide after accessing the website. Catherine Adenekan, the mother of the young man revealed to ITV that her son used his final message to call for the site that promoted his suicide to be forbidden.
As reported by ITV, Joe Nihill was 23 when he died in 2020 after exchanging multiple messages in an online forum that explains different formulas of suicide. “Please do your best in closing that website for anyone else,” said Joe in a note written shortly before his demise.
Joe’s mother, Catherine, described him as a “kind, outgoing 23-year-old.” Nonetheless, after several family grieves and a toxic relationship, Joe became depressed. By the time lockdown stroke, he was suicidal. His mother added, “Especially at 23. He was just a shell.”
Besides, Ms. Catherine had no clue about the website his son was visiting, which underlined different ways to conceal suicidal thoughts from family and friends. Joe’s mum told ITV, “He was back to singing around the house, he was talking more, he wasn’t spending as much time in his room…we thought Joe was coming back.” She added, “He gave me a kiss – (he said) ‘I love you’… I came down the next morning and the door was half open and I knew. That stays in your head, constantly.”
Joe Nihilll’s story sadly reflects that of Angela Stevens – her son, Brett Stevens, who’s from Stoke, killed himself in 2019.
Brett Steven’s death
According to The SUN, a heartbroken mum (Angela Stevens), slammed a sadistic website that encouraged her son to take his own life after he died in a double suicide pact.
Brett Stevens, 28, met a woman online and traveled from Tunstall, Staffs, to Scotland to meet up with her in person. The duo then rented an Airbnb before ingesting a fatal substance as part of a suicide pact – with Brett’s mum Angela discovering her son had been spending time on suicide forums.
Additionally, The SUN states that Angela came to know that Brett had been accessing forums that encouraged suicide and went into details about how to take your life. However, even though raising alarm about the website and her son’s death, an investigation into Brett’s death did not examine the website as part of their proof.
Per ITV, Brett who had been diagnosed with autism from the age of 15 was found dead in a house in Scotland. A woman was also found dead in the same house. Ms. Stevens said she was terrified to discover that her son and the dead woman had met on the site, after discovering a thread for people who are afraid to die alone.
As stated by StokeonTrentLive, Ms. Steven said, “Brett had told me he was going on holiday. Personally, we were going through a bad time and he was having meltdowns because of his anxiety. He was worrying about things.” She added, “I thought he was going to stay with friends in Norway but he actually got in a taxi, went to Manchester Airport, and met a lady there who flew in from the Netherlands. They got on the train up to Aberdeen on November 22.
“They spent 10 days there. He was due to come home on December 5. When he didn’t arrive at 3:30 pm, I was texting him and ringing him saying I was getting worried. By 6 pm I reported him missing to the police.” That’s how Ms. Stevens found out about the death of his son after the police found he had died in Scotland. What’s more, she identified that since 2018, her son had been a member of a particular website that seemingly encourages suicide.
Additionally, with regards to ITV, Ms. Stevens said, “Well the first thing you do is you start googling everything, don’t you? And I couldn’t believe how easy and accessible that site was.” She added, “Literally a click of a button, you can find a suicide partner. And that’s exactly what he did.”
Due to their desperation for other people to be saved from similar agony, Ms. Stevens and Ms. Adenekan’s daughter-in-law Melanie Saville, started their campaign.
As reported by StokeonTrentLive, the two mothers and fellow campaigners against the site have managed to single out 21 people who took their own lives and were active users of such websites. Ms. Stevens said that it was not good enough that chances to alert the public about the risks of such sites or to penalize those responsible for creating them and promoting them had been missed.
Surprisingly, according to an investigation carried out by StokeonTrentLive, it detected several agencies, including the National Crime Agency, two police forces, and the government were aware of the worries about the website, but there is no criminal investigation into Brett’s death. Nevertheless, under English law, any person who helps or promotes others to take their own life could face prosecution.
Conclusion
While Ms. Stevens and her fellow campaigners try to advocate for banning of the suicide websites, the public should be aware of and look out for their loved ones that are going through hard times. Such sites can easily encourage and even help people with suicidal thoughts take their own lives.
According to BBC, The Samaritans suicide prevention charity says that the government’s new online safety bill is not good enough or fit for its purpose. It states that vulnerable adults won’t be protected from graphic content about self-harm and self-slaughter. The Samaritan’s greatest worry is smaller sites that promote users to take their own lives.
Apart from the Samaritans, other sites that help people with suicidal thoughts are NHS Choices, Shout, and Mind.
