MP’s wife among those urged to die by strangers

Rose Paterson

THE former chairman of Aintree racecourse was found dead in woods near her Shropshire home after secretly accessing suicide forums. Her husband, Tory former Cabinet minister Owen Paterson, believes the forums had ‘drawn her in’. He said: ‘Many of these suicides are on impulse. The narrative these sites use is so beguiling and it’s written in such calm language. Yet these sites never talk about the damage to those you leave behind.’

Joe Nihill

THE final line in Joe Nihill’s suicide note asked police: ‘Please do your best in closing that website for everyone else [and] look after my mum and family.’ The chip shop worker, 23, from Leeds, had begun seven discussion threads on a forum site and exchanged 57 messages with 17 users. His mother Catherine, 49, said: ‘ Within days of becoming a member... Joe was told exactly what to do, how to act and within a week of joining he was gone. He was driven to his death by strangers.’

Callie Lewis

THE 24-year-old animal rights activist, pictured, from Dover, in Kent, took her life using a ‘suicide kit’ she learned about in an online forum. The last people she spoke with were forum members. One wrote to her: ‘Good luck. We all wish you a swift travel.’ Another said: ‘May you find peace, my friend.’

Jason Thompson

THE grandfatherof-two, 49, died 12 days after buying a substance on eBay after being given advice by suicide forum members. His sister Karen Black, 53, of Newton Aycliffe, Co Durham, said: ‘You can’t buy more than a couple of packets of paracetamol, but you can find step-by-step guides to kill yourself and how to buy this poison on these websites – it’s sick.’