Mother of tragic Shrewsbury woman, 21, welcomes action on deadly diet pills
The mother of a 21-year-old Shropshire woman has welcomed action over deadly diet pills that killed her daughter.
Fiona Parry, from Condover, said that she was pleased to see thousands of the deadly pills had been seized across the country less than a year after her daughter,
, died after accidentally taking a lethal dose of a pill she had bought over the internet.
The pill contained dinitrophenol, also known as DNP, which is highly dangerous. and not fit for human consumption.
But Miss Parry had bought the pill which had been advertised as a diet slimming drug.
This week, it was revealed that over the last year 2,000 websites selling unlicensed slimming tablets were shut down and more than 240,000 doses of pills were seized.
Ms Parry said: "It is heartening that people have listened. You always wonder when you speak out whether anybody will take notice.
"It is a crime that has largely been easy to get away with so I think this will make a difference."
The Local Government Association (LGA) has echoed Ms Parry's call for tougher sentences for those selling the drug including the highly toxic chemical DNP.
At the moment anyone caught selling illegal diet pills faces a maximum of two years in prison, but the LGA is calling for the sentence to be comparable to other offences where life has been put at risk.
