Coroner wants eBay to act after teen poison death

A coroner has urged eBay to take action after a teenager died from taking a poison she bought on the website.

Alice Dearden, 19, from Wiltshire, died in February 2020 having suffered from long-standing mental health difficulties including anorexia and emotionally unstable personality disorder.

She had a history of self-harming, an inquest into her death in April 2026 found, and had purchased the drugs online a few weeks before her death.

A spokesperson for eBay said the substance bought by Dearden had been banned from sale in the UK and other marketplaces for several years.

The inquest, held at Wiltshire and Swindon Coroner's Court, heard Dearden had experienced difficulties in transitioning from child to adult mental health services after turning 18, with Nicholas Rheinberg, assistant coroner for Wiltshire and Swindon concluding she had taken her own life.

The court heard the drugs Dearden had purchased were a "reportable substance" under the Poisons Act and the seller had a statutory duty to report any suspicious transaction.

Rheinberg said he was concerned about the power mail order businesses like eBay had to make the checks required under the law and had written to the auction site highlighting it.

"Evidence at the inquest suggested that it would not be possible for a mail order business to make such checks," he said.

"Reference during the inquest was made to eBay's hazardous materials policy and it was seen that reportable poisons in concentrated form were not included in the list of prohibited items.

"In my opinion, action should be taken to prevent future deaths and I believe your organisation has the power to take such action."

Speaking after the inquest concluded in April, the Dearden family expressed their hopes that no one else would have to go through a similar experience.

"Alice's mental health difficulties were treatable. She had recently turned 19 when she died, and was very vulnerable," they said.

"We call on online marketplaces, such as eBay, to ensure that sellers of harmful substances carry out all required checks before any sale is completed, so that the law is upheld and vulnerable people are protected."

Lawyer Will Whitaker, of Bindmans, who represented the family said it was "shocking that it remains so easy for a person like Alice to access fatal poisons via online marketplaces".

"It is hoped that the report sent to eBay in this case will go some way to addressing that." he said.

A spokesperson for eBay said the substance had been banned from sale on its platform for "many years".

The spokesperson said: "The sale of all poisons, including the substance in question, are prohibited under our hazardous materials policy, and have been for many years.

"We use a number of measures, including block filter algorithms and AI-supported monitoring, to help prevent their sale.

"We remain absolutely committed to preventing the sale of dangerous substances on our platform and will continue working closely with regulators to strengthen our efforts in this area."

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