Poisoned (working title)

A gripping investigation into the death of a young British man sparks a global hunt for the individual selling hundreds of young people lethal poison.

Journalist James Beal, Deputy Investigations Editor at The Times, realised there was something more when in his story on the death of Tom Parfett, a young man who died by ingesting a lethal poison he had purchased online. It led Beal to partner with bereaved parents from around the globe in order to uncover the identity of the source of the sales, who has since been arrested and accused of sending over 1,000 packages of poison to young people. The series, based on original articles by Beal and a subsequent award-winning podcast by The Times, features powerful testimony from the families of victims. Together, they helped expose the dangers and lack of regulation around online suicide forums – a critical element of the current global mental health epidemic.