Lee Elliott

From Nadine Dorries MP 
Minister of State for Patient Safety, 
Suicide Prevention and Mental Health 

39 Victoria Street 
London 
SW1H 0EU 

15 February 2021 

Our Ref: 

Dr Nicholas Shaw 
HM Assistant Coroner, County of Cumbria 
HM Coroner's Office 
Fairfield 
Station Road 
Cockermouth CA13 9PT 

Dear Dr Shaw 

Thank you for your letter of 26 November 2020 to Matt Hancock concerning the death of 
Lee Elliott, which was brought to the Department’s attention on 28 January 2021.  I am 
responding as Minister with responsibility for mental health and suicide prevention. 

Firstly, I would like to say how deeply saddened I was to read of the troubling 
circumstances surrounding Mr Elliott’s death and I offer my heartfelt condolences to his 
family and loved ones at this difficult time.  

I note your concerns that information about suicide methods is so readily available on the 
Internet and that the means to assist suicide with this substance can be easily sourced 
and bought online. 

I wish to assure you that suicide prevention is a priority for this Government, and we are 
working across local and national government to reduce suicide rates so that fewer such 
tragedies occur each year. 

We continue to take action to reduce suicide rates through the Suicide Prevention Strategy 
for England1 and the first Cross-Government Suicide Prevention Workplan2, which sets out 
an ambitious programme across national and local government and the NHS.  The 
Workplan includes actions to reduce access to the means of suicide, including through 
harmful online content. 

1 https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/suicide-prevention-strategy-for-england 

2 
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/772210/n
ational-suicide-prevention-strategy-workplan.pdf 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 I am advised that suicide prevention policy leads in the health system, at the Department 
of Health and Social Care, Public Health England (PHE), and NHS England and NHS 
Improvement (NHSEI), are alert to the risk posed by websites promoting suicide methods, 
and their direction on the use of certain chemicals in completing suicide, including the 
substance taken by Mr Elliott.  These organisations, along with key stakeholders and 
academics, are looking at what data is available on suicides by this method and at what 
steps we can take to stop further loss of life by this method. 

The concerns that Mr Elliott’s death raises sit within the policy remits of a range of 
Government departments, including the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sports 
(DCMS) for its work on online harms; and the Home Office (HO) for its work on the sale of 
reportable substances3.  Officials have shared your concerns with those Departments and 
are working with officials from those and other Government departments to explore what 
further steps we can take to prevent further tragedies, both for this chemical, and any other 
emerging methods. 

There is work already taking place that directly and indirectly impacts some areas of 
concern.  As you may be aware, in 2019, DCMS published its Online Harms White Paper4, 
which set out a range of legislative and non-legislative measures detailing how the 
Government is planning to tackle online harms, including harmful materials on self-harm 
and suicide. 

On 15 December 2020, DCMS published its response to the White Paper consultation, 
setting out how the proposed legal duty of care on online companies will work in practice 
and gives them new responsibilities towards their users.  DCMS also announced that the 
Government has asked the Law Commission to examine how criminal law will address the 
encouragement, assistance and incitement of self-harm.  

In relation to your concerns about the chemical that Mr Elliott procured online, I understand 
that the HO has produced guidance for businesses on the sale of explosives precursors 
and poisons5.  This includes the substance used in this case, which is a reportable poison 
under the Poisons Act 19726.  This means that it is generally available to members of the 
public without the need for a licence, but sellers, including online sellers, are obligated to 
make suspicious transaction reports where they have grounds to believe that the sale is 
for an illicit use. 

The HO regularly engages with suppliers to help them meet their requirements under the 
Poisons Act and provide detailed guidance in relation to any additional safeguarding steps 
they may wish to take.  Generally online marketplaces maintain their own policies on 

3 Guidance: supplying explosives precursors and posions 
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/supplying-explosives-precursors/supplying-explosives-
precursors-and-poison 

4 https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/online-harms-white-paper 

5 https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/supplying-explosives-precursors/supplying-explosives-
precursors-and-poison 

6 https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1972/66 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 prohibited items, many of which will include a prohibition on the sale of poisons.  It is the 
seller’s obligation to check that items they are listing are permitted by their own policies 
and to take any action where it is appropriate. 

In addition to the cross-Government group set up to put in place steps to tackle emerging 
methods of suicide, officials at the Department of Health and Social Care have also invited 
HO officials to brief partners in NHSEI, PHE and suicide prevention stakeholders on what 
HO can do to ensure that sellers of these chemicals are aware of their potential use in 
suicide, and what can be done to get specialist support to those who might be at risk. 

More generally, from 2019/20, we are investing £57million in suicide prevention through 
the NHS Long Term Plan7.  This will see investment in all areas of the country by 2023/24 
to support local suicide prevention plans and establish suicide bereavement support 
services. 

In addition, every local authority now has a multi-agency suicide prevention plan in place.  
We are working with local government to assure the effectiveness of those plans, and we 
invested almost £600,000 in 2019/20 to support local authorities to strengthen their plans. 

Furthermore, PHE is piloting a national real-time surveillance system to monitor suspected 
suicide, by collecting early real time data which can be used to identify patterns of risk and 
causal factors, to inform national and local responses.  HM Treasury has announced 
£1.2million funding to help support the development of the national system. 

Finally, we know how crucial it is that information about a suicide is treated with the utmost 
sensitivity it deserves, not only for the bereaved families and communities, but also 
because reporting on the particulars of an individual suicide can lead to other people 
taking their life in similar ways, be that in the same location or by the same method.  With 
this in mind, and with due respect to the Chief Coroner’s rights under the Coroners 
(Investigations) Regulations 2013 to publish this response, I wish to reiterate the need for 
us, as far as possible, to ensure the media practice caution when making public any facts 
or details relating to this method. 

I hope this response is helpful.  Thank you for bringing these concerns to my attention.  

        15 February 2021  

NADINE DORRIES  
MINISTER OF STATE FOR PATIENT SAFETY, SUICIDE PREVENTION AND MENTAL 
HEALTH  

7 https://www.longtermplan.nhs.uk/