TORONTO — The sentencing hearing for Kenneth Law opened Wednesday in Newmarket as families from Canada and the United Kingdom began telling a judge what his online business did to their children.Law, a former Mississauga chef, pleaded guilty in May to 14 counts of aiding suicide in Ontario. In an agreed statement of facts he also admitted his products were used in 79 deaths in Britain. He ran websites that sold sodium nitrite — a food-curing salt that is lethal in high doses — along with masks, hoods and regulators used for asphyxiation. Between 2021 and 2023 he shipped about 1,209 packages to 41 countries, including 157 in Canada, 330 in Britain and 431 in the United States. Prosecutors have said the sites brought in more than $300,000.Ontario victims included two 16-year-olds; others were 19 and 21. Superior Court Justice Michelle Fuerst is hearing victim-impact statements over several days, with dates set through Sept. 28 if needed. About 75 statements were filed; most are expected to be read in court. The Crown stayed 14 first-degree murder charges after concluding a murder trial could not proceed. .A CBC investigation has tied his products to at least 147 deaths worldwide. British authorities identified scores of U.K. deaths and chose not to seek extradition, leaving the Canadian sentence to account for those cases. Some families say the plea is not enough and want a public inquiry into how the shipments continued for years. Stephen Mitchell Sr., whose son died in 2023, has said the death was preventable and that authorities should have shut Law down sooner.
