American man faces life for posting cyanide to suicidal Hull resident

An American man who posted cyanide to a suicidal Briton faces life imprisonment after being found guilty in relation to his death. Sidney Kilmartin, 54, sent the substance to Andrew Denton, of Hull, who died in 2012.

He was found guilty by a jury in the United States on 11 October of mailing injurious articles resulting in death and witness tampering.

Kilmartin, who lived in Windham, south west of Bangor in the state of Maine, had already admitted mail fraud and wire fraud.

The prosecution said Kilmartin had previously posted Epsom salts to a number of suicidal people, under the guise of cyanide, but later posted the real thing to Mr Denton in a bid to prevent him reporting the fraud.

Kilmartin had posed as a jeweller to convince a distributor in California to send him 100 grams of the poisonous chemical for around £105 ($127), according to evidence from a US postal inspector.

No date for sentencing has been set.

The Samaritans provides a free support service for those who need to talk to someone in the UK and Republic of Ireland. It can be contacted via Samaritans.orgor by calling 116 123 (UK) or 116 123 (ROI), 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.