Suicide Websites

The painful affliction of loneliness strikes again. Two lonely people meet on a suicide website in the UK and decide to kill themselves together. Joanne Lee, using the name Heaven's little girl, wrote: 'I haven't the strength to do this alone. I have all the ingredients and want to do it asap."

Steve Lumb 35, saw the ad and drove across the country to meet Joanne and shortly after they were dead. Their bodies were found in his car and fireman had to wear protective clothing to remove them as it was filled with lethal gas. They had put warning signs on the windows to protect the people they knew would be taking their bodies away.

Joanne lived alone with her two cats and from suffered depression and anorexia. In the weeks before her death she posted her plans to kill herself on suicide internet forums where cyber friends offered advice on how to do it. She wanted to know if she could make a lethal gas to use in her bathroom and an online friend advised "If your bathroom is small, it could work if you ensured it was airtight."

That attempt failed and Joanne then advertised for a suicide partner and Mr Lumb answered. Last Sunday he wrote a farewell message on a website revealing his plans to CTB - catch the bus - the online phrase used for commiting suicide. He wrote "I'm just saying goodbye im ctb today and to all you people suffering, I hope you find what you are looking for." He then drove 200 miles to meet Joanne and soon after they were both dead.

Mr Lumb's father said his son spent a lot of time on the internet playing games but he had no idea what he had planned. He was a truck driver and had spent an ordinary weekend at home with him before saying goodbye on Sunday afternoon. He didn't show any indication that something was wrong. "I lost my wife Elizabeth a few years ago, whether that preyed on his mind I dont know. I thought the world of him. I couldn't have had a better son. But he was a very lonely lad.

Joanne Lees father Jeffrey separated from her mother and she has since re-married. She was registered with NHS for depression and anorexia right to the end. "We thought her condition was improving, she seemed more content and happy even" they said.

Having internet sites out there explaining how to kill yourself is wrong. If there isn't already a law to ban them, we should make one. We should be able to solve feelings of loneliness but we can't. There is almost a theory about that people are lonely because they want to be. You hear people advise others to join a club, stop moping around, pull your socks up and get out into the world. We are slowly getting better in Australia, The Black Dog Institute and Beyond Blue and others do a good job of educating people about the problems of depression but we need to do more because it's not enough.