UK man jailed for selling chemicals to help people commit suicides

A UK man who supplied chemicals online to people seeking to end their lives has been sentenced to prison.

Miles Cross, 33, from Wrexham, was jailed for 14 years after admitting four charges of deliberately carrying out acts that encouraged or assisted suicide. The offences relate to chemicals he supplied between August and September 2024.

Cross admitted that he sent a lethal substance to four individuals he had connected with through an online suicide forum. One of those recipients, 29-year-old Shubreet Singh from Leeds, later died. She had paid £100 for the package.

Police recovered messages exchanged between Singh and Cross from her phone. Officers also found a foil packet at the scene of her death that carried Cross’s return address.

North Wales Police searched Cross’s home in January 2025 after Thames Valley Police, investigating a separate suicide, identified him during financial inquiries. During the search, officers discovered quantities of the same chemical that had been mailed to the victims, along with related materials.

While passing sentence, Judge Rhys Rowlands described the case as highly unusual and extremely serious, noting that Cross had sent the substance to people who were clearly distressed and engaging with him through a suicide-related forum. The judge said that two people died as a result of Cross’s actions.

According to prosecutors, Cross had opened an online account by August 2, 2024, which he used to direct the individuals to make payments for the chemicals. He had also bought 100 zip foil bags, later seized by police from his address, with four of those bags unaccounted for.