Girl,16, took her own life after swallowing poison from Ukraine

A teenage schoolgirl took her own life after swallowing a poison she ordered online from Ukraine, a coroner ruled today.

Sophia Gurung, 16, was a ‘quiet, hard working and positive student’ at the prestigious and private Queen Anne’s School in Reading, Berkshire, where she boarded during the week.

She was pronounced dead in the early hours of July 26, 2023, following a sudden and mysterious collapse while staying at home in Abingdon, Oxfordshire with her parents over the summer term.

Coroner for Oxfordshire Darren Salter told an inquest into the teenager’s death that a later police investigation found that Sophia had ingested a lethal chemical she ordered online and have it delivered to her home address.

The poison is believed to be linked to more than 130 UK deaths since 2019 and has raised concerns about the online exploitation of vulnerable people by unscrupulous ‘poison sellers’ abroad.

Sophia Gurung, 16, attended the prestigious Queen Anne’s School in Reading, Berkshire 

Coroner Mr Salter told the inquest: ‘An investigation revealed the drug appeared to have been ordered to the address, with the parcel thought to have originated from Ukraine.

‘During a search of Sophia’s bedroom, conducted with her parents’ consent, a package of white powder was located in Sophia’s personal handbag, which was wrapped in polystyrene.

‘It appears Sophia has ordered and received this package and has ingested its content.’

The coroner hard that Sophia had been suffering from ‘low mood and some suicidal thoughts’ for several years and was being assisted at school by a counsellor to whom she talked weekly, as well as her GP.

At the end of June, 2023, she had sat her final GCSE exam and felt positive about her results, the inquest heard.

Mr Salter said: ‘The last time she was seen by her counsellor, she was observed to be visibly relieved that her exams had finished, relaxed, and more open to speak, more free.

‘She and the counsellor talked about things she could do over the summer term that would give her more time to herself, like walking the family dog.’

However, the police investigation later found Sophia had already ordered the poison online, which she received in a parcel at her home the next day on June 30.

The schoolgirl’s father, Nishan Gurung, gave police a statement in which he recalled waking up in the middle of the night to the ‘sounds of Sophia in clear distress, struggling to breathe.’

Sophia’s parents rushed to her bedroom where they found her ‘lying in bed in a straight line, with her eyes closed, and breathing short breaths.’

As he tried to shake his daughter awake in vain, Sophia’s father called 999 and performed CPR until paramedics arrived.

The schoolgirl was rushed to the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford and was sadly pronounced dead at 2.18am on July 26, 2023.

A first post-mortem examination found no external signs of injury and the cause of death remained undetermined until information emerged that Sophia had apparently ordered a potentially lethal chemical online.

A toxicological examination later found high levels of the poison present in her body prior to her death, indicating that Sophia had indeed poisoned herself.

The coroner told the inquest: ‘Sophia suffered from low mood and some suicidal thoughts and had been seen and supported by her GP.

‘There was support from agencies, including the school and of course the parents, and therefore it is all the more tragic that Sophia had died in this way by ingesting the poison on the evening of July 25.’

Following Sophia’s death, a spokesman for Queen Anne’s School said it was ‘shocked and saddened’ by their student’s sudden passing.

The lethal chemical Sophia used to end her life has been connected to more than 130 UK deaths since 2019, according to scientist Professor Amrita Ahluwalia, an expert in vascular pharmacology at Queen Mary University of London.

In an interview published on the university’s website, the Professor said: ‘The so-called ‘poison’ is being misused and mis-sold by unscrupulous people to vulnerable individuals.

‘Something should be done to ensure that this substance can’t be easily acquired for negative purposes.’

Sophia was rushed to the John Radcliffe Hospital (pictured) in Oxford and was sadly pronounced dead at 2.18am on July 26, 2023

In March this year, a BBC undercover reporter tracked down and confronted a Ukrainian man, Leonid Zakutenko, suspected of selling the same poison to vulnerable people by advertising his services in online forums.

Known in these online circles as ‘the Ukraine supplier’, Zakutenko is alleged to be sending five parcels of poison a week to the UK from Kyiv.

The British authorities have known about the chemical and the online trade since at least September 2020, when they were alerted by a coroner who examined the death of 23 year-old Joe Nihill.

Since then, coroners across the country have written to different Government departments on at least five occasions calling for action to be taken about the poison and its online trade.

For support, call Samaritans for free on 116 123 or visit samaritans.org 

Ukraine

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