Bethany Shipsey bought the drugs which killed her from a Ukrainian computer expert and gym fanatic who took advantage of a loophole in the law to sell the deadly pills.
The 21-year-old bought the banned drugs, linked to at least eight deaths in Britain alone, quickly and easily on the internet from Andrey Shepelev, an investigation has found.
The tablets were then posted to her family home in Worcestershire in a DVD case to avoid detection.
Miss Shipsey (pictured) took a fatal amount of diet pills containing the toxic chemical DNP
Doug and Carole Shipsey with a picture of their daughter Bethany – his Freedom of Information (FOI) request revealed that Worcestershire Royal Hospital has had 136 ‘serious incidents’ in less than a year
Beth, 21, died in February 2017 at Worcestershire Royal Hospital
A year on from her death, the website she used is still running despite an investigation by the Food Standard Agency’s (FSA) national food crime unit – which is powerless to act outside the UK.
The Daily Mail also found a number of other sites, including some with pages on Facebook, offering to sell the industrial chemical 2,4-Dinitrophenol, known as DNP, in pill form. It is not illegal to sell DNP, which was designed to be a pesticide and a chemical dye, but it is banned for human consumption.
Despite this, it is still marketed online as a super-strength ‘fat burner’. Videos on YouTube and adverts on Facebook promote it as a weight loss aid, with bodybuilders telling how they shed huge amounts in a short time.
Andrey Shepelev admitted DNP was dangerous but said he was not responsible for people taking it. ‘You buy them and it’s your own responsibility,’ he said
It works by accelerating the metabolism but can lead to dehydration, vomiting, restlessness, excessive sweating, rapid or irregular heartbeat, and death. Long-term use may cause damage to the heart and nervous system.
Beth’s parents have called for more to be done to tackle the online trade in DNP, which is also known as Solfo Black, Nitrophen, Aldifen, Chemox and Yellow Magic. They warned parents to be on the lookout for the ‘lethal’ substance, which has no antidote.
On Wednesday the coroner called for the sale and purchase of it to be banned outright.
Investigations by the Mail and Bethany’s family found the website she used was linked to Mr Shepelev, 29, from Ukraine. He admitted selling the drugs to Bethany when confronted by the Mail outside a gym in the city of Volochysk.
Doug and Carole Shipsey heard coroners at Worcestershire Coroners Court reach the verdict of suicide following their daughter Bethany’s death – caused by an overdose of diet pills
The Shipsey family has slammed the ‘inadequate’ Worcestershire Royal Hospital where their daughter Bethany died, claiming she was exposed to ‘third world’ conditions in A&E
He expressed regret and said he no longer shipped to the UK but continues to send batches of the drug to other countries.
Mr Shepelev has been spoken to by police in Ukraine but has not been prosecuted.
The case highlights the difficulty in stopping the supply of the drug to the UK as the majority of websites are based abroad.
Mr Shepelev’s website claims to sell ‘high quality research chemicals for private scientific purposes’. A disclaimer adds it is ‘not for human consumption’ but goes on to tell of its ‘incredible fat loss capabilities’.
He initially denied sending the pills to Bethany, but later admitted: ‘Yes, I sent it on the 5th of Jan 2017. I have now found it, to my regret.’
The pills were sent from a post office in Volochysk after Bethany transferred £156.55 by Pay Pal.
Mr Shepelev said he started selling the pills after losing a large amount of weight himself. He buys them cheaply in Ukraine and sells them on at double the price. ‘For some reason, DNP is very famous in the UK and there are many people who sell it to the UK,’ he said. He added: ‘Losing a child is the most horrible thing that can happen to parents. But I want to tell her parents that I’m sure it was not me who caused her death.
‘I won’t say I’m sorry, because if I say I’m sorry it wouldn’t mean anything. It’s just what people always say. I am actually very saddened by the fact that Bethany passed away. It’s a huge tragedy.’
He said he had been visited by police and was now banned from selling anything to the UK but still had requests to send it here. He admitted DNP was dangerous but said he was not responsible for people taking it. ‘You buy them and it’s your own responsibility,’ he said. ‘I was just sending them what they wanted. I buy them legally, they are not forbidden.’
The FSA crime unit said it had passed intelligence to the National Police of Ukraine who are investigating. A spokesman said: ‘Responsibility for subsequent enforcement action rests with the Ukrainian authorities.’
The Ukrainian police declined to comment.
DNP, the ‘extremely dangerous’ drug sold as a weight loss aid
DNP is sold as a weight loss aid, but has been described as ‘extremely dangerous to human health’ by doctors.
It is sold mostly over the internet under a number of different names but contains 2, 4-Dinitrophenol.
It is marketed mainly to bodybuilders as a weight loss aid as it is thought to dramatically boost metabolism.
The manufactured drug is yellow and odourless and was previously used as a herbicide and fungicide. It was launched as a slimming aid in the US in the 1930s but then banned in 1938, due to the severe side-effects.
Depending on the amount consumed, signs of acute poisoning could include nausea, vomiting, restlessness, flushed skin, sweating, dizziness, headaches, rapid respiration and irregular heart-beat, possibly leading to coma and death.