‘It has broken us as a family,’ mother of poison seller victim tells hearing

The court also heard a statement from Faith George, the mother of Faith Ike-Elechi, who referred to her daughter by the nickname Chimma.

She found her daughter helpless on the floor after she had taken the poison, and said her last works “echo in my mind every day”.

She said if she were able to speak to her daughter again she would tell her she had never stopped being proud of her.

Maurice Dunham, father of British victim Michael Dunham, said the last time he saw his son alive was on a family holiday to Croatia that Michael had left early to return home.

“The last conversation I had with him was an argument,” he said in a written statement.

Maurice returned home days later and discovered Michael was dead.

“The feeling I had was like an electric shock going through me,” he wrote. “I blamed myself for not stopping Michael from leaving the hotel room.

“I planned to take my own life. I didn’t care if I lived or died.”

Later, the court heard the words of the mother of Yeanu Mistry, who said hearing he had died was “the news every parent fears”.

And Maureen Cooper, the mother of poison victim Gary Cooper, called the pain of losing her son “unbearable”.

“A death such as this is the thing of nightmares,” her written statement said.

On Wednesday, the court heard from a British survivor who was given an antidote that saved her after taking poison from Law.

Elisabeth Belien told the court: “I feel guilty for surviving. Although I survived, it has also impacted my loved ones. I feel like my vulnerability was exploited. I still feel a lot of shame about what happened.”

The hearing continues.