WELLINGTON, Sept 20 — A New Zealand coroner has linked a fifth death to a "suicide kit” allegedly sold online by a former Canadian chef, according to findings released Friday.

Coroner Alexandra Cunninghame found that a 25-year-old killed herself in an Auckland hotel in April 2022 after receiving an item ordered from an online business linked to Canadian Kenneth Law.

The coroner was unable to confirm whether the package actually contained the substance used in her suicide, but noted the "drug is heavily restricted, and therefore not easily obtainable, in New Zealand”.

Cunninghame has previously connected the deaths of three students and a personal trainer who took their own lives in 2022 and 2023 to purchases from a website associated with Law.

Police in Canada believe the former chef sent as many as 1,200 "suicide kits” to people in more than 40 countries between 2020 and his arrest last year — specifically targeting vulnerable people online.

Canadian prosecutors allege the kits contained a food additive that can kill if misused.

Law was arrested in May 2023 and charged in Canada with 14 counts of murder and a further 14 counts of aiding and counselling suicide.

He has denied the charges.

Alerted by Interpol, several other countries, including the UK and Italy, have also launched investigations.

In Britain, at least 272 people purchased products from Law’s websites and 88 of them died, police there have said. — AFP