'Suicide website users encouraged our teen son to drink poison'

"I saw my lad warring for his past breath," says Anna Nikolin-Caisley. "He went successful agony."

Anna believes her youngest child, Vlad, 17, was "encouraged" to swallow poison by users of an online "pro-suicide" radical which is inactive progressive successful the UK, contempt galore calls to prohibition it.

Vlad's household person decided to uncover the harrowing details of his death, successful Hampshire successful May 2024, arsenic a informing to others.

The authorities said platforms indispensable region amerciable termination and self-harm contented erstwhile caller rules come into effect this twelvemonth arsenic portion of the Online Safety Act.

But the Samaritans foundation says it does not judge the caller instrumentality goes acold enough.

It was 02:40 connected 7 May erstwhile Anna was jolted from her slumber by her teenage lad Vlad screaming, "Mum! Call doctors!"

He past shouted the sanction of a poison and the clip helium drank it.

"I don't cognize what the substance is," Anna remembers, "but he's changed his mind, and helium came to maine for help, to prevention him."

Vlad's father, Graham Caisley, describes however their lad indispensable person staggered upstairs, earlier collapsing connected his chamber floor.

"His hands were each clenched up and helium was shaking," Graham says. "It was conscionable a authorities of panic."

"It was violent, it was sudden," his parent adds, arsenic she describes her lad suffering aggregate seizures. "Fitting and warring for beingness - I can't adjacent commencement imagining the panic helium went through."

Minutes later, Graham was connected his knees carrying retired CPR connected his son, guided by paramedics connected speakerphone.

"I was conscionable doing what I could to effort and prevention my son's life," Graham says, with tears successful his eyes. "It was conscionable horrible."

Police body-worn camera footage reveals the chaos and affectional fallout arsenic exigency responders tried and failed to prevention Vlad's life.

After Vlad's decease his household were shocked to observe helium had been sharing his "dark moments" with radical online. His parent says it was a "very secretive" assemblage and describes it arsenic a "pro-suicide" cult.

Detectives recovered a "suicide kit" successful the family's Southampton home, containing assorted poisons, pills and different things Vlad had bought aft joining the chat group.

"He's researched and understood, and been told wherever to bargain these things and what to buy," says DS Chris Barrow from Hampshire Police. "So, without the website, Vlad wouldn't person been capable to enactment unneurotic this acceptable of items and ingredients with which to instrumentality his ain life."

After a blessed childhood, Vlad had begun to retreat successful his aboriginal teens and was aboriginal diagnosed with autism, slump and anxiety. At the clip of his decease helium was being treated by intelligence wellness professionals and had besides developed a achy neurological condition.

His household accidental they had seen his intelligence wellness amended arsenic helium had started seeing friends and travelling. But Vlad's older sisters, Masha and Mia, accidental adjacent though helium was overmuch better, helium was inactive susceptible erstwhile helium took his ain life.

"Even if radical utilizing this forum struggle," says Masha, "no-one knew my member good capable to marque immoderate decisions astir his life."

Mia, who has exchanged messages with moderators connected the website, describes the tract arsenic an "echo chamber" which tin "push radical implicit the edge".

"There is astir definite grooming taking place," she says.

The BBC has spent years investigating the online forum that Vlad was a subordinate of. It present has much than 50,000 members globally and Vlad's household privation it taken down oregon blocked.

By coincidence, Vlad had ordered poison from a Ukrainian seller called Leonid Zakutenko, conscionable earlier the BBC exposed him.

But Vlad did not swallow that poison. The chemic helium yet ingested was ordered from Poland and had been mis-labelled, perchance to get done customs.

Following his death, the household work each Vlad's posts and exchanges connected the forum and picture however things look to person "slowly escalated".

Vlad's mother, Anna, says: "Then you person backstage chats and you are led down the way of death. Anyone tin travel crossed it. A kid tin travel crossed it. There's nary checks.

"The radical who sold the poison, the radical who encouraged it, however is that legal?"

"They're alive," Vlad's father, Graham, says, "our lad is dead."

The constabulary probe into Vlad's death, to found if immoderate transgression offences person been committed, is ongoing.

The website is based successful South America and hosted by a server successful the United States. With antithetic laws successful antithetic countries, online harm is notoriously hard to police.

Data from the Office of National Statistics shows suicides successful England and Wales person risen by 10% implicit the past six years. Although it is inactive uncommon for nether 25s to termination themselves by poisoning, the numbers of young radical choosing to extremity their lives successful this mode are rising much rapidly than successful older people.

A authorities spokesperson said, "Suicide devastates families. Intentionally encouraging termination oregon the superior self-harm of different idiosyncratic is illegal.

"Once the Online Safety Act is afloat implemented, platforms volition person to region this amerciable termination and self-harm contented arsenic good arsenic halt children from seeing harmful termination related worldly - adjacent erstwhile it falls beneath the transgression threshold.

"Companies should not hold for laws to travel into unit – they indispensable instrumentality effectual enactment to support each users now."

Julie Bentley, CEO of Samaritans, says the charity's calls for smaller sites to beryllium treated arsenic severely arsenic larger platforms person been "completely ignored".

"Legal-but-harmful contented needs to beryllium strictly regulated for some adults and children," she says, urging some the authorities and Ofcom to enactment "before it's excessively late".

Ofcom told the BBC that from July sites would person "duties to support children from harmful self-harm and termination content, adjacent wherever it's not illegal".

"As these duties travel into force, we'll beryllium capable to usage the afloat grade of our enforcement powers against immoderate services that neglect to comply with their duties," it added.