How mum of diet pill victim shamed dealer who sells them online
THE MOTHER of a student who died after accidentally overdosing on diet pills has told of the moment she confronted a dealer of the drugs.
Fiona Parry, whose 21-year-old daughter Eloise died in agony in April, posed as a gym owner wanting to place a bulk order of the diet drug DNP in a meeting with a Turkish peddler on Skype.
DNP, or dinitrophenol, which has been linked to the deaths of six Britons, is not a banned substance, but it is illegal to sell it for human consumption.
The dealer, Orhan Topcuer, who is based in Istanbul and sells the pills online, initially dismissed Mrs Parry’s concerns about the drug’s safety. But when she revealed her true identity, he apologised and said he would stop selling the pills.
Mrs Parry, 51, said yesterday: ‘This man, like all the other traders, was fully aware that what he was doing was illegal. The problem is they know the chances of being caught are so small. But to see his reaction when I confronted him was remarkable. His remorse was refreshing – it was almost like he hadn’t thought about the implications of what he was doing.’
Mrs Parry’s daughter Eloise was left ‘burning up from the inside’ after bingeing on diet pills containing DNP, a highly toxic chemical historically used as an explosive, which she bought from a different online trader who has since been closed down.
Eloise, who had a history of bulimia, sent a heartbreaking text to her lecturer just hours before she died, saying: ‘I screwed up big time. I think I’m going to die. I’m so sorry for being so stupid.’ In the Skype video call on August 28, which was filmed by the BBC, her mother, a chemistry teacher from Condover, Shropshire, asked Topcuer about his cheapest deal for the pills before saying: ‘It doesn’t worry you that people die?’ Topcuer replied: ‘If they don’t know what they are doing they shouldn’t use it.’ BBC reporter Jonathan Gibson, posing as Mrs Parry’s business partner, then said: ‘You heard, didn’t you, about that case we had here in April?’ The dealer replied: ‘I heard about it, but I don’t know who.’ Mrs Parry then revealed: ‘The girl who died was my daughter.’ A stunned then claimed he would stop selling the pills, adding: ‘I don’t want to sell it after this contact, I really don’t. And I’m really sorry.’ The product has since disappeared from his website. ÷ The confrontation with Topcuer will be screened on BBC Inside Out West Midlands tonight at 7.30pm.