IN BRIEFCanadian man Kenneth Law sent 1,209 packages containing sodium nitrate to customers in 41 countries.These packages aided suicides globally.A Canadian man who sold a legal but potentially deadly chemical online to dozens of people who took their own lives has pleaded guilty to aiding suicide.The plea ended the prospect of a murder trial in a case with international reach.Kenneth Law, 60, operated four companies with websites through which he marketed and sold sodium nitrite and other items, including masks, hoods and regulators, that were used by the purchasers to take their own lives.Sodium nitrite, a salt used in low concentrations as a food additive to cure processed meats, can be deadly when ingested in high concentrations.On Friday, Law pleaded guilty to aiding the suicides of 14 Ontario residents, aged 16 to 36 at the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in Newmarket, Ontario, north of Toronto. He will be sentenced in September.News that makes senseYour trusted source for staying up-to-date with the world around you. Get free daily news updates and analysis, straight to your inbox.Prosecutor Peter Westgate told Justice Michelle Fuerst that prosecutors would ask that 14 first-degree murder charges Law was also facing be withdrawn after his sentencing.Family members of victims, some wiping their eyes with tissues, were visibly upset as prosecutor Cheryl Nadler read out the circumstances of each victim's death."Today has been heavy," said Kim Prosser, mother of victim Ashtyn Prosser."I carry forward his legacy in my heart and my soul."Law also admitted that 79 people in Britain died as a result of consuming or using products he sold.Britain's Crown Prosecution Service said it had decided against seeking Law's extradition to stand trial in the UK, concluding that doing so carried a risk of refusal on double-jeopardy grounds.Packages sent globallyLaw sent 1,209 packages of the salt and other goods to customers in 41 countries between January 2021 and April 2023, the court heard. The shipments included 330 sent to addresses in Britain, 431 to the United States and 157 within Canada.The case's statement of facts described victims who vomited, collapsed in their parents' arms, were found unresponsive in bed by family members or friends, or who died alone in hotel rooms and vehicles after consuming or using products shipped by Law."Many, many, many, many," Law told a reporter who was posing as a potential customer and asked how many people have been successful in killing themselves using his products, in a recorded phone call played in court.Financial records showed more than C$296,000 ($298,500) in deposits to Law's bank account from Shopify and PayPal accounts associated with his businesses between 2020 and 2023."I genuinely thought that I was helping people to alleviate their suffering while making a small, modest profit," Law said in a personal letter found in his home.The statement of facts said the parties in the case did not agree on what Law's statements meant about his motivation.Westgate told the court that prosecuting Law for murder was no longer viable after a 2024 Ontario Court of Appeal ruling in an unrelated case involving a nurse who injected herself, her mother and her young daughter with potentially lethal doses of insulin.In that case, the appellate court "described the standard of causation that applies in a situation like we have here, where a victim performs the final acts leading to death," Westgate said.Prosecutors asked the Supreme Court of Canada to overturn that standard, but the majority did not rule on the issue, leaving the appellate decision as binding authority in Ontario, according to Westgate. "This decision makes a murder prosecution in this case impossible," Westgate said.Law, a trained engineer who worked as a cook before his arrest, has been in custody since his arrest at his home west of Toronto in May 2023.A conviction for counseling or aiding suicide carries a prison sentence of up to 14 years, according to Canada's Criminal Code. First-degree murder in Canada carries a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment with no chance of parole for a minimum of 25 years.Readers seeking crisis support can ring Lifeline on 13 11 14 or text 0477 13 11 14, the Suicide Call Back Service on 1300 659 467 and Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800 (for young people aged up to 25). More information and support with mental health is available at beyondblue.org.au and on 1300 22 4636.Embrace Multicultural Mental Health supports people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.For the latest from SBS News, download our app and subscribe to our newsletter.