A heartbroken mum whose son was found dead in a Scots cottage believes he'd been brainwashed into taking his own life with a stranger.
Angela Stevens' son, Brett, travelled from Tunstall to Scotland to meet with a woman he had been communicating with online at an Airbnb in 2019.
But Brett, who was just 28 at the time, would never return home. The pair ended their own lives by swallowing a lethal substance.
His mum has since learned that he had been spent time on online forums that promote suicide and methods of suicide.
They also help people link up, in order to take their own lives together, reports StokeonTrentLive.
Brett told his mum he was going on holiday to Norway when he left in November 2019 that and she would see him when he returned in December.
But when he failed to come home she issued a missing person report for her son, who had been diagnosed with autism when he was 15.
Brett was found dead having taken his life in a holiday cottage in Stonehaven with the 24-year-old woman he had met up with, who was understood to have flown over from the Netherlands.
Mrs Stevens said: "Brett had told me he was going on holiday. Personally, we were going through a bad time and he was having meltdowns because of his anxiety. He was worrying about things.
“He came to me and said he felt like he needed to get away for a bit and have a holiday. I thought it would be a good idea for him to take a break.
“I thought he was going to stay with friends in Norway but he actually got in a taxi, went to Manchester Airport and met a lady there who flew in from the Netherlands. They got on the train up to Aberdeen on November 22.
“They spent ten days there. He was due to come home on December 5. When he didn’t arrive at 3.30pm, I was texting him and ringing him saying I was getting worried. By 6pm, I reported him missing to the police.
“At this point, we thought he was in Norway. The police got in touch with the Norwegian police who were looking for him. They decided to do a ping on his phone and when they did that they said it had come back to Scotland. We were sitting here mystified.
“They said they would go away and find out what happened and then they would ring me and let me know. They were back at my house within an hour. They came in and said they found Brett and it wasn’t good news. They told me he had died.”
Angela has since discovered that Brett had been a member of a particular site since 2018 - which apparently promotes suicide.
He had been receiving messages with comments such as 'your life is not going to get any better'.
She added: “They are the most sociopathic people out there. They get some sort of sadistic kick out of other people’s misery and then laugh about it when they go ahead and take their own lives.
“They encourage their members to hide the site and get rid of any evidence of the site from their devices.
“They coach them on how you should be acting in front of friends, family and medical professionals so they don’t suspect you are going to take your own life.
“The website is preying on vulnerable people. These people are told all the time by other members that are not there to take their own lives, they are pressured. If he came to me I would’ve reported the site.”
Angela and other campaigners say they have now identified 21 people who were active users of such sites that have died by suicide.
Under English law, anyone who assists or encourages others to take their own life could face prosecution.
But a StokeonTrentLive investigation revealed there is no criminal investigation into Brett's death, despite numerous agencies - including the National Crime Agency, two police forces and the government - being aware of Angela's concerns.
Angela says she alerted the Staffordshire coroner's office to the evidence that police in Scotland had found on Brett's phone.
According to Angela, a report by Police Scotland was also sent to the coroner's office.
But when the inquest was held in February last year, she says no mention of the circumstances around Brett's were included in the hearing.
StokeonTrentLive was unable to get a response as to why.
The deaths of Brett and the woman he died alongside were treated as suicide by police.
The same conclusion was arrived at by Brett's inquest, overseen by assistant coroner Sarah Murphy.
In giving her conclusion at the hearing, Mrs Murphy had said: "There was evidence of Brett's low mood and increased level of anxiety. His anxiety had been heightened due to fears about being made homeless. A letter and social media posts indicated an intention to end his own life.
"It is very clear to me that Brett was much loved by his family. There was no indication by Brett to his family that he was going to take the action he did, therefore there was nothing his family could have done to prevent this very tragic event from occurring."
Angela said she is 'disappointed they didn't mention it'.
StokeonTrentLive reports that evidence suggests coroners in Staffordshire could have already been aware of the existence of such websites prior to Brett's death.
In 2020, the coroner for Leeds, Kevin McLoughlin, wrote to the then-Health Secretary Matt Hancock following an inquest into the death of Joe Nihill, 23, who took his own life in April 2020.
He had swapped messages with people on similar websites to that which Brett used.
Coroner Mr McLoughlin sent a Regulation 28 notice, which obligates the recipient to explain what they are doing to prevent future deaths.
The notice, outlining grave concerns about the websites and the access to the substance used in Mr Nihill's death, was circulated to the Coroners' Society.
But the Coroners' Society has not responded to requests for information as to whether the notice was circulated to local coroners.
The then minister for patient safety, suicide prevention and mental health, Nadine Dorries, also wrote back to Mr McLoughlin.
She said she "shared his concerns about the ready availability of online information that promotes suicide methods, and about the ease with which a person can obtain the chemicals for the purpose of taking their own life".
She went on to say suicide prevention was a "priority for the government" and that the government had asked the Law Commission "to examine how criminal law will address the encouragement, assistance and incitement of self-harm".
Angela said: "I sit here now and go over the last couple of years, and I've seen quite a few inquests in Stoke-on-Trent where it mentions chemical toxicity, and I know it's probably (the substance that killed Brett), which indicates to me the people could have been on (the website) or knew people on it.
"The coroners have failed. Our government has known about the forum for several years, and has done nothing."
It's understood there is also no criminal investigation into the website by Police Scotland, only enquiries made about specific users.
While the Suicide Act only applies in England and Wales, there is common law around culpable and reckless conduct that "would have been taken into account as part of the investigation".
Mrs Stevens has been in contact with the National Crime Agency, who, she says, were to refer the case to Staffordshire Police.
StokeonTrentLive has seen a letter from the NCA that confirms a referral to Staffordshire Police.
But Staffordshire Police told StokeonTrentLive they could find nothing in their systems about any case or investigation.
The NCA said: "We have offered our sincerest sympathy to Angela for the loss of her son. The primacy for investigating the circumstances of his death sits with the police. We stand ready to assist them if we can."
A spokesperson for the Department for Health and Social Care also said: "We condemn the existence of sites like this and the harmful impact they have on people's lives. Online content encouraging suicide is illegal. Our new laws will force internet platforms including small websites and the search engines which list them to remove it.
"If these companies fail in their duties they will face huge fines and having their services blocked. Their bosses could also be held criminally liable for failing to cooperate with the regulator Ofcom.
"We are determined to ensure everyone is able to access the help and advice they need. This is why we are transforming mental health services in England with an extra £2.3 billion a year and as part of that, we are expanding talking therapies to ensure 1.9 million people will be able to access them by 2023/24. "
