A former soldier has been sentenced to 14 years in prison after pleading guilty to four counts of assisting suicide. This verdict comes after Miles Cross, 33, engaged in a deeply troubling enterprise, selling £100 packages of poison online that tragically led to two individuals taking their own lives.

Cross orchestrated this grim business by establishing an online shop where he offered the deadly substance, specifically targeting susceptible individuals through an internet forum. Disguising his identity under the pseudonym ‘hiddenpain,’ he navigated this dark niche with apparent ease.

In July 2024, Cross, under his alias, shared an image of the poison on the forum, expressing a sense of accomplishment in obtaining the necessary materials. He wrote, ‘Finally acquired everything for (poison) method, everything was readily available to me in the UK, other than the (poison) itself which took some legwork to source as we live in a f***** nanny state. Safe to say that finally having everything to hand and things being on my terms now is the only bit of relief I have had for a long time.’

Over a brief, yet harrowing, five-week period from August to September 2024, Cross utilized Royal Mail to distribute these fatal packages to four individuals across the UK, each transaction priced at merely £100.

During the court proceedings at Mold Crown Court, prosecutor Nick Johnson KC detailed how Cross meticulously crafted a business in June 2024, complete with a fresh email address, phone number, and bank account, all in pursuit of selling this lethal product online. His unsettling online venture highlights the vulnerabilities of unregulated internet spaces where such dangerous transactions can occur.

Nick Johnson KC told Mold Crown Court that in June 2024, Cross set up a business – with a new e-mail address, phone number and bank account – in order to sell the lethal poison for assisting suicide online. He requested £100 from ‘customers’ in return.

The substance, which the Daily Mail is not naming, is not illegal to buy and is used in industry. 

Cross showed no reaction as he was sentenced and led to the cells.

Judge Rhys Rowland said: ‘Yours is a worrying case, you took it upon yourself to sell (the poison) to people who you didn’t know, people plainly suffering with their mental health and so were vulnerable.

‘To repeat, you were selling to complete strangers in the knowledge for (the posion) to be used to end another’s life.’

The judge said it was a ‘serious aggravating feature’ that the people Cross had no idea of his ‘customers’ vulnerability or how determined or settled they were to harm themselves.

Cross posted the drug to 26-year-old Shubhreet Singh, of Leeds, on August 22 last year.

It was delivered two days later and she was found dead in an Air BnB in the city, having ingested the substance, on September 3.

Police discovered messages between her and Cross that she had screenshotted on her phone, in which he asked whether she needed ‘help sourcing’ the poison in the UK.

She replied: ‘Yes.’

A screenshot of a £100 payment to Miles Cross was also found.

Mr Johnson said the Crown does not accept Cross’ claims that he joined the chat forum because he was feeling suicidal himself.

The barrister said the chronology proved this was ‘demonstrably untrue’ and Cross’ actions were an attempt to make money.

‘He set up an e-mail, bank account and phone number all before he joined (the forum) and before he obtained (the poison),’ Mr Johnson said.

On August 28, the worried parents of another 20-year-old man, who was suffering mental health problems and who cannot be named for legal reasons, intercepted another parcel sent from Cross.

But, in a tragic twist, his 53-year-old father, who was also experiencing depression, went missing days later and used it to kill himself.

The other two recipients – a man and a woman – did not take the poison and survived.

Cross was arrested on January 13 last year at his flat, in Wrexham, north Wales, and two tubs of the poison were discovered in a suitcase in the spare bedroom, the court heard.

Cross’ DNA was also discovered on the lid of one of the tubs.

A photo and video of the substance, taken in August 2024, was also found on an iPad found at the flat.

When questioned Cross denied any involvement and refused to offer any assistance to the officers, who were worried other members of the public could be at risk.

In a powerful victim impact statement, the widow of the 53-year-old man who died said she had suffered ‘total devastation and ongoing trauma’ following the death of her husband.

The mother-of-three, who had been with her husband for 30 years, said had since begun suffering from insomnia and nightmares, saying: ‘I can get to sleep but having any more than three hours is rare.

‘The lack of sleep leaves me unable to grieve or heal or function. I am not the person I was.

‘I have horrific vivid nightmares that stay with me during the day.

‘I am anxious in a way that is hard to explain. Days that were once special, like Father’s Day or our anniversary, just remind me of my loss.’

She said her sons ‘blamed themselves’ and were suffering because of the loss of their father.

The woman added: ‘I have withdrawn from my friends and family because they can’t understand what I’m experiencing. I can’t just put on a brave face, every aspect of my life has changed forever.’

Another woman who bought the substance said in her statement that Cross had made it ‘easy’ for her to buy the substance and had ‘preyed’ on her when she was at her most vulnerable.

‘At the time I made the decision to purchase the substance I felt vulnerable, overwhelmed and struggled silently,’ she said.

‘This experience caused me significant emotional pain. I’m no longer in that state of mind, but I’ve had to work hard to heal and move forward in a healthier direction.

‘The fact this was so easy makes me think, had I not come to my senses, I wouldn’t be where I am today. This person…preyed on vulnerable people like me. The substance he advertised, sold and sent me could have ended my life and seriously impacted on my family.’

The court heard that Cross, who spent six years in the Army, has previous convictions for drug possession, failure to provide a specimen of breath and battery.

Duncan Bould, defending, said that, while Cross does not dispute the prosecution’s chronology of events, he claimed he suffered mental health problems because of trauma in his childhood and things he had witnessed during a tour of Afghanistan, which caused him to try to kill himself at least once.

The barrister said that Cross previously used ‘large quantities of alcohol’ and sedatives to self-medicate his anxiety.

Mr Bould said he had also lost his job in June 2024 and soon after he received his final pay packet tried to kill himself as a result.

He said his girlfriend, who had been with Cross for 10 years, discovered him in the bedroom with a gas cannister, having taken an overdose of pills and whisky.

‘She offered to take him to hospital, but he refused any medical assistance,’ Mr Bould said.

Cross set up the business selling poison the following day.

Mr Bould also claimed Cross felt guilty and was ‘genuinely remorseful’ for his offending.

At a court hearing in November, Cross admitted four counts of encouraging or assisting suicide.

It is understood to be the first time in UK legal history that someone has been prosecuted for selling poison to a stranger to encourage them to take their own life.

Alison Storey, a specialist prosecutor with the Crown Prosecution Service, told the Mail’s award-winning Trial+ podcast that Cross’ motivation appeared to have been ‘to make money out of other people’s misery.’ 

He was unemployed at the time of his offending.

‘Over the summer of 2024 Cross set up a small business – he opened a bank account, got a new phone, a new email address and then he ordered the product in bulk from abroad,’ she said.

‘Having done all that he went onto a forum to find ‘customers’ – people who were suffering with their mental health, who had suicidal ideation and then offered to supply the drug to them in order for them to end their own lives.

‘He didn’t know these people. There was no reason for him to be offering to sell this drug to people, other than to make a profit, small as it was.’

Ms Storey described the £100 Cross charged for the poison as ‘a very small amount for a life.’

‘In this case, the drug was supplied to four different people,’ she added. ‘One of those people took her life directly, as a result of receiving it.

‘In the other three cases, the three people supplied are all alive and have got a different outlook now. And that is the danger of this. It’s not people with a settled intention to die (that are targeted). It’s not people who are suffering from a terminal illness and unable to face life.

‘They are younger people who were just not able to cope at that time, but given time might get their lives back on track.’

Born in Basildon, Essex, in 1992, Cross joined the Army after leaving school.

But six years ago, in February 2020, he was banned from driving for 17 months by magistrates in Ipswich for refusing a breath test. 

Police who stopped the then 27-year-old, in Brandon, Suffolk, where he was living, suspected him of drink driving. He was also fined £800.

It is unclear when Cross moved to North Wales but by the time he committed his crimes, in August 2024, he was living in Wrexham with his girlfriend.

Assistant Chief Constable Gareth Evans, of North Wales Police, said the force had worked with Internet regulator, Ofcom, and used powers under the new Online Safety Act to block UK users from accessing the American-based forum Cross used to find his victims.

‘From the start, a large part of our strategy was around trying to prevent further harm,’ Mr Evans said.

‘We worked closely with the National Crime Agency and, using some of the powers in the new Online Safety Act, Ofcom managed to make the specific forum in the United States one that you can’t access from the UK, and that remains the case at this time.

‘We have been able to prevent other people stumbling onto that forum and being subject to behaviour like Cross displayed. He basically sought out really vulnerable people at their lowest ebb with suicidal thoughts, sold them a product and tried to encourage them to take it.’

The case mirrors that of Canadian chef Kenneth Law, 60, who is awaiting trial in Ontario, Canada, on similar charges.

He is accused of 28 offences – 14 of murder and 14 of aiding or counselling suicide.

All of the charges are linked to the deaths of people from across Ontario, aged 16 to 36.

Canadian detectives allege Law ran a number of websites offering equipment and substances to help people end their lives.

The National Crime Agency (NCA) has also accused Law, who denies wrongdoing, of sending packages to more than 270 Brits.

The NCA claim 98 of those recipients later died, although they have not confirmed that a toxic substance was the direct cause of each death.

No charges have been brought against Law in the UK.