Strategy ‘could do more’ to stop sick sites that lead to suicides

The Department of Health said its new Suicide Prevention Strategy would tackle a wide range of issues and includes putting £1.5m into research which is designed to help bereaved families.

Ministers said it also aimed to help parents ensure their children are not accessing harmful, suicide-related websites, but Papyrus, the charity for the prevention of young suicide, said it was disappointed.

Ged Flynn, the charity’s chief executive said any action which would prevent young suicides was welcome but said the Government “could do better”.

He added; “We are pleased that the Government takes the issue of suicide sufficiently seriously to produce a new strategy and welcome the strategy itself.

“But we note that there is no new funding to support its delivery, no action plan for implementation and no simple means of measuring its success.”

Mr Flynn said the Department of Health’s vow to clampdown on suicide-related websites was also welcomed, but needed to be tougher on those who run the sites and the internet service providers (ISPs) which host them.

He said: “We acknowledge the legal framework that is in place, but note that there has never been a successful prosecution for encouraging or assisting suicide online.

“Nor does the experience of our members reflect the optimistic tone in the strategy, ISPs seem unwilling to act when such sites are made known to them.

“We call on all ISPs to commit to real collaboration in making suicide sites less accessible and we continue to press government to put pressure on them to do so.”

Websites which encourage suicide began to come to light following tragedies including the death of Carina Stephenson, 17, from Doncaster, who took her own life in 2005.

Since then her mother Liz Taylor has campaigned, with the support of the Yorkshire Post, for more action to close down such sites and bring more prosecutions.

In a rare case an American nurse was jailed last year after encouraging Mark Dryborough, 32, from Coventry, and Canadian Nadia Kajouji, 18, to kill themselves after meeting them online.

William Melchert-Dinkel, 50, was convicted of two counts of aiding suicide under a rarely-used Minnesota law.

Prosecutors said that Melchert-Dinkel posed online as a suicidal nurse to prey on his victims, a finding upheld by appeal judges in the US in July who said he “hunted emotionally vulnerable persons” who stood on the edge of death, “and pushed”.

Health Minister Norman Lamb said the latest official figures showed 286 men and 94 women took their lives in the region in 2010.

He said the strategy would also look at reducing opportunities for reducing suicides which are associated with impulsive acts, safer prescribing of potentially lethal drugs and by making sure mental health facilities and prisons keep people safer.

“One death to suicide is one too many – we want to make suicide prevention everyone’s business,” said Mr Lamb.

“Over the last 10 years there has been real progress in reducing the suicide rate, but it is still the case that someone takes their own life every two hours in England.”