Bereaved families and a survivor have called for a statutory public inquiry into repeated failures to stop a suicide grooming forum linked to more than 130 deaths in the UK.
In a letter to Andy Burnham, the families of more than a dozen people - including children as young as 16 - who died between 2020 and 2025 have called for an inquiry to "expose the failures that cost their lives".
The group, which also includes a survivor of the forum, said their loved ones were "drawn into a dark, nihilistic online world that continues to be easily accessible to this day".
Groomed and exploited
"They were groomed, exploited, instructed and actively encouraged to take their own lives," they said. "Most accessed a poison that can be easily imported and that, because of weakened regulation, remains readily available." They asked for an urgent meeting with the Prime Minister to discuss their concerns.
Ofcom fined the forum's provider £950,000 in May for failing to comply with duties under the Online Safety Act. The media regulator said it had found that illegal suicide content is present on the forum. This included instructional "guides" and threads detailing different methods of suicide, some of which have been present on the site for years. Ofcom has blocked access to the site for the "vast majority" of UK users.
But the online forum - which the Mirror has chosen not to name - can still be accessed by people in the UK using a Virtual Private Network (VPN), a security tool which obscures a user's location. Ofcom in July admitted it is unable to take further legal action against the forum.
Missed opportunities
The letter to Mr Burnham outlined concerns that Prevention of Future Deaths reports raised relevant matters of concern 43 times, while coroners raised concerns about either the substance or the forum with public bodies some 65 times. It added: "Why were so many opportunities missed while people continued to die and suffer harm?" The letter also criticised Ofcom for being "unwilling or unable to act with the urgency that was so desperately required".
Bereaved families and the survivor likened their experience with the state to that of the victims of Grenfell, the infected blood scandal, the post office scandal, and Hillsborough families, who were "each denied justice, accountability and dignity because governments and public bodies repeatedly chose to close ranks".
The letter continued: "We write to you today as a group of bereaved families and a survivor of an appalling suicide grooming forum that exists for only one purpose: To groom, coerce and instruct vulnerable people to take their own lives, and to celebrate when those lives end.
"Multiple agencies have failed to act and we live with the consequences of those failures every day. We demand a full public inquiry; nothing less will honour our children, the survivors, or expose the failures that cost their lives."
Grief and demands
It added: "The deaths of each of our loved ones were only the start of the continuous trauma we have been left to endure. We must not only bear the pain of their loss but the agony of knowing that their deaths were preventable. They were victims not only of a deadly forum and nihilistic criminals, but also the failure of successive governments that acted too slowly to heed warnings - if at all."
In September last year, David Parfett, whose 22-year-old son Tom took his own life in 2021 and who has signed the letter to Mr Burnham, told The Mirror: "I know from my own personal experience having ordered it three times now that it still gets through to people. It’s a scandal that we’re letting people still take their own lives... The saddest thing is always, even as we sit here today, four years after Tom died, that’s still happening today. There are still children and young adults being influenced to die using exactly the same pattern as Tom. And it needs to stop."
Families and campaigners last year called on Keir Starmer to launch an inquiry, but their demands came to no avail.
Andy Burrows, MRF's chief executive, said: "In the past year, every meaningful avenue for justice has been systematically closed off to bereaved families. The State’s failures have directly contributed to the sheer scale of preventable harm we’ve seen, despite a flurry of warnings from families and survivors, as well as multiple coroners across the country.
"The evidence is undeniable, and yet this criminal, nihilistic and financially motivated suicide grooming forum is still active and directly responsible for appalling loss of life here in the UK. Andy Burnham was unflinching in his commitment to the Hillsborough families to seek justice and accountability. He must do the same for these families and survivors, making sure lessons are learned and that families are afforded the same sense of dignity and a commitment the Government is determined to finally make things right."
An Ofcom spokesman said: "We acted quickly against this forum as soon as the Online Safety Act came into force and have used the powers we’ve been granted to the fullest extent possible. We conducted a thorough investigation under the process required by law and issued a significant fine for breaches of the Act.
"We can only apply for a court order to block a site in the UK if there is ongoing non-compliance under the Act. The forum has already blocked the UK as a direct result of our action, which will better protect people in the UK and means all possible legal routes under the Act have now been exhausted."
Ofcom has no role in launching a public inquiry – this can only be done by Government. A Government spokesperson said: "We have met with many bereaved families affected by these issues and know nothing can undo the pain they have suffered.
"It is illegal to encourage and assist suicide or serious self-harm online, and sites promoting this content will face the full force of the law.
"Ofcom’s enforcement action has resulted in the forum blocking access to people in the UK, and we will continue to work with law enforcement partners to intercept harmful substances entering our nation."
