A first-year university student took his life with poison that he sourced online from a Canadian poison seller, an inquest heard.
Joshua Warner is one of 79 Brits whose deaths have been linked to Kenneth Law, who supplied pills for people to take their own lives.
The psychology student, 21, who suffered from ADHD, depression, and borderline personality disorder, spent £40 after researching an online suicide forum that pointed him towards Law.
He died in January 2023 and Rosalind Franklin Halls in Guildhall Walk, Portsmouth.
The 57-year-old from Mississauga, Canada, who has since pleaded guilty to aiding suicide.
Although a coroner ruled that medical practitioners ‘could not have prevented’ Joshua from taking his own life, it was found that only through his dad’s ‘dogged determination’ was he assessed by the medical practitioners a month before he died.
Joshua used a website linked to the Canadian chef, who pretended to be a doctor online, to order poison and have it delivered to his university halls to then use in the early hours of the morning.
Joshua’s name will be added to Law’s criminal case after the National Crime Agency linked his death to a poison he supplied.
Anna Smith, a senior investigative officer for the National Crime Agency, said: ‘At the time of Mr Warner’s death, the NCA didn’t hold any information about [Kenneth] Law’s criminality.
‘It came from a company and website linked to Kenneth Law for a total of $81.72 paid by Joshua Warner.’
Ms Smith said that the Crown Prosecution Service and the NCA were informed that Law had entered guilty pleas to aiding and abetting suicide in Canada.
She said that Law had supplied 330 products to the UK that came from Canada and had been linked back to his PayPal account.
Ms Smith said: ‘Kenneth Law supplied the substances to the UK that led directly to the deaths of 79 victims.’
Joshua’s Dr Graham Warner, said: ‘He was a great food critic, and he made a brilliant seafood paella. He loved Nandos, Taco Bell and Dungeons and Dragons.
‘At Woking High School, he made his friend group. He committed to study Psychology in Portsmouth. He was a brilliant wordsmith.
‘He was too clever, too thoughtful, too trapped in his own thoughts. Josh was loved, so deeply loved. We are so deeply sad but we are proud of him.’
His mum Stephanie Warlow, said: ‘He was always a very closed book, a very private person. I was not really aware that he had such bad mental health problems.’
Concluding the inquest, Coroner Nicholas Walker said: ‘Joshua was, and is, so much more than the conversations we have been having. Unique, quirky, fiercely loyal, a dry sense of humour and quick wit.
‘His family describes him as being a deep thinker, and introspective.
‘Sadly, you say, he was to trapped in his own thoughts. He was able to deceive people of those inner thoughts that were eroding his mental health. I am satisfied that he intended to take his own life.
‘It seems to me that the heart of this case is whether the professionals should have seen through Joshua’s deception – he was apparently getting better.
‘I am satisfied, on the balance of evidence, that Joshua’s death could not have been predicted or prevented. He was saying that he was feeling better; he was an intelligent young man, and even those who knew him best did not see his coming.”
Mr Walker added that Joshua and his family were ‘frustrated’ by his treatment in the primary care sector.
Over the Christmas period of 2022, his father wrote an email to the chief medical officer of what was Solent NHS Trust – and only through that was his son assessed.
Mr Walker said: ‘It should not be down to the dogged perseverance of a concerned father to get he help that was needed.
‘I’m quite satisfied that he would not have had a consultation, had it not been for his dad. It should not have taken that.’
Following a toxicology report, Joshua’s medical cause of death was recorded as intoxication from a highly toxic substance.
While the substance was specifically named in court, it has been excluded from reporting, based on guidance from Samaritans on reporting suicide – as well as at the recommendation of the coroner.
The court heard how the substance is available in the UK, but is not sold to individuals.
Over the course of the inquest, evidence was heard of how NHS trusts, the GP surgery and the University of Portsmouth had found ‘areas of learning’ in the aftermath of Joshua’s death, and had made improvements since – although not all of these were intrinsically linked to his passing.
Mr Walker recorded a conclusion of suicide, summarising that Joshua Warner, known also as Jeremy, intended to take his own life.
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