The Met Police are to be quizzed by a coroner over their actions to prevent an imported 'suicide poison' claiming the life of a 22-year-old student.
An inquest on Tuesday heard how Kenneth Law sent the lethal substance to Thomas Parfett, who was found dead in a Premier Inn in Sunbury-on-Thames in October 2021.
Earlier this year, Law, 61, pleaded guilty in his native Canada to assisting 14 suicides in his home country.
An investigation by the National Crime Agency has so far identified 286 UK recipients of Law's packages, which have been linked to an estimated 79 deaths.
The inquest at Surrey Coroners' Court was told a woman contacted the Met's counterterrorism team in August 2021 to warn them that her 20-year-old daughter had died from Law's poison a month earlier.
In response, the force's chemical reporting team said it was 'aware of similar tragic circumstances' surrounding the use of the lethal substance.
Kate Beattie, acting for the Parfetts, told the court: 'The company and name of the individual was known about and known by police and was brought to the attention of Scotland Yard in connection with a different death.
'Mr Parfett's (Thomas's father) very acute concern is that this was a matter of months before Thomas's death and before he purchased the substance and took it.
Pictured: Thomas Parfett, who died aged 22 after taking his own life in Sunbury-on-Thames, Surrey
Kenneth Law, 60, (pictured) who is linked to the deaths of dozens of people in the UK after selling them packages containing lethal substances
Law sold 1,200 packages containing lethal substances across 40 countries, including the UK
'Mr Parfett's concern is that this chemical reporting team at the Met, which also seem to be linked to the Home Office, potentially had knowledge of a seller selling a substance in mid-2021 resulting in death.
'I would be very interested to know what, if anything, was done between July and October 2021 by the Met or the Home Office to act on this information regarding this substance coming in from that company.
'It is my understanding that protective or broader control measures can be taken.'
Coroner Darren Stewart OBE agreed he would be seeking answers from the Met on its knowledge of the poison at the time.
Indicating what his findings may be, Mr Stewart said there was 'more than enough evidence' to suggest Thomas's death came about because he was able to buy the toxic substance from abroad with no checks and balances.
'It is also the case that I will likely find that Thomas accessed a chat room on a website which dealt with suicide ideation and discussing it more generally,' he said.
He said there was evidence that his involvement in that chat room 'will have informed if not influenced the decision he took on October 27, 2021'.
In his final moments, the philosophy student wrote on the suicide forum that he had taken a substance.
Other users of the forum, which itself has been linked to around 160 UK deaths, did not attempt to step in or call the emergency services.
Communications regulator Ofcom took action against the site earlier this year to block it from UK users.
But the inquest heard those who already had accounts before the enforcement came into effect can still access it, as well as those using VPNs.
Thomas's father David, 58, has spoken of his anger at the decision to not extradite Law to Britain to face charges
Surrey Police's Detective Sergeant David Grimes told the court he had been unable to access the site during his investigations.
But Ms Beattie suggested he had not tried hard enough, and pointed out that Thomas's father David, who sat in court, had been able to.
She also grilled Detective Sergeant Grimes over not attempting to contact the site's owner or Law during his probe.
But he repeatedly said the physical evidence at the scene suggested suicide and that he did not believe Thomas had been encouraged or assisted in his death.
Mr Stewart said Thomas's death – and the wave of those affected by online poison purchases – showed that the UK's Poisons Act was not fit for purpose in the modern day.
He said the act was 'long overdue an update' to address how public life has changed, including how substances can be bought online without proper checks and balances.
'As I look across the number of deaths this substance has caused, I dismay at the young age of many of these people,' he said.
'It's something that is unavoidably distressing and I will keep that very much in the centre of my mind.'
Speaking after the hearing, Thomas's father David, 58, said: 'There are people from the UK still using that forum and being encouraged to take their own lives.
'In five years, nothing has fundamentally changed.
'The significant thing for me is that Thomas was not talking about suicide. I was not aware of the forums being so publicly available, and that we allow them in this country to act as a trading post for these methods.
'If somebody is concerned about a friend or a child, they need to be aware that the biggest risk could be the screen in their bedroom.
'I just want more people to be aware.'
He also previously spoke of his anger at the decision to not extradite Law to Britain to face charges.
Mr Parfett said the ruling was 'done to me, not with me', and in 'no way' brings justice to his son.
He said: 'I am angry but not surprised. For months, we have been told that the system is working and that existing measures are enough. They are not.
'He's not ever been charged with a crime against Tom.
'Yet this is the man that made £50 from selling my son a substance to kill himself, probably having persuaded him to do so, and yet he will never face charges.
'It doesn't send the right message to other people that are doing the same thing, typically using internet sites.'
The Met Police has been contacted for comment.
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