Assisting Suicide

[securespark]

Read the Grauniad on Thursday (think). There was a very good article about a bloke whose sister wanted him to be there when she took her life.

He was arrested and treated like a murderer.

I wish I could find a link to the story, but can't.

Correction - here is a BBC resume of the story:

Suicide brother has 'no regrets', BBC News, 21st January 2005
A man from Kent who watched his sister kill herself and was then arrested by police who suspected he helped her has said he has no regrets. Graham Lawson watched his sister Sue, 48, a multiple sclerosis sufferer, suffocate herself with a plastic bag. Mr Lawson, of Cowden, was arrested by police and waited five months before being told he would not be charged with aiding and abetting a suicide. "No-one else could do it for her, she had to do it herself," Mr Lawson said. Miss Lawson, a bank manager from Burgess Hill, West Sussex, was diagnosed with MS 14 years ago. A year ago, Mr Lawson said, she had got to the end of her tether and wanted to die, trying seven times before she managed to kill herself. He said: "I don't know what I was feeling. I was just wishing her as much courage as I could to do it because it was what she wanted so much." Mr Lawson is now calling for a change in the law to permit mercy killings. "I don't have any regrets - that no-one else has to go through it, that is all I want. Nothing is ever going to change what I went through, nothing is ever going to change what Sue went through. But no-one else should have to go through it and maybe somebody should take notice of this and realise it is so unnecessary."

 

[felix]

And it gets worse. I recall a case of a man who travelled with his terminally ill wife to Switzerland where euthanasia is legal. When he got back he was arrested for assisted suicide. It's bad enough to charge somebody with a crime they didn't do here. To charge them with something they didn't do in a country where no such crime even exists is just ridiculous. Personally I find the idea of trying to enforce your own laws in another country arrogant in the extreme. Salman Rushdie would have plenty to say about that!

 

[Big_Spark]

As I understand it he cannot be charged with a crime as the suicide, assisted or otherwise, did not occur in the Uk, thus it is outside the jurisdiction of the British Police, The CPS and the Courts.

As for assisted suicide, I disagree with this in the way it is practiced, however i do agree that Euthanasia should be legal with very strictly monitored tight controls in place to ensure that it is not abused.

If a person has a terminal condition, or a condition that is so debilitating they have no quality to their life, and there is no prospect of improvement, then that person should be able to present their case to a panel of three Judges. Doctors should present the medical facts, not their personal opinions, and the family of that person should also give their views on this, afterall they will be effected by this decision.

Then the Judges would retire to consider a decision for or against the plaintiff. If found for, then they would be given paperwork that would allow a doctor, appointed by the State, to issue them with a lethal dose of a specified drug which the patient should administer themselves. If they do not take the drug within 20 days of the Decision, then the decision is reversed and the Doctor must destroy the drugs.

If the person is not deemed to be in a fit state of mind to make a decision for themselves then the above option should not be open to them. The patient should be able to make the decision for themselves.

 

[AdamW]

In the case Simon brought up, is it even assisted suicide? The story says he watched her kill herself. OK, so he didn't do anything to stop her, but if I stand around and watch someone shoot someone else, that doesn't make me guilty of manslaughter. If I do nothing whilst someone robs me, that doesn't make it an "inside job".

Now, if he had handed her a lethal dose of barbiturates or a loaded revolver then it becomes a little easier to pin his tail on the assisted suicide donkey, but a plastic bag?

No way I can touch the actual issue of euthanasia though, I can't find my 20-foot barge pole...

 

[Thermo]

fwl,
he could technically be charged with it as he assisted the suicide by making the travel arrangements to take her to switzerland, knowing that this is why she was going, therefore he had the mens rea of the offence. That is how it would have been seen, however to actually get it to court and a conviction is another matter. Certain offences can be chrged even if they occur outside of the country, if they concern a british national, eg peadophilea in thailand etc

god this imy 1000th post and i was trying to save it to be helpful as well!

 

[Big_Spark]

I agree in principle Thermo, but they would need to prove "Beyond a shadow of doubt" that he KNEW she intended to commit "mortal harm" to herself upon arriving at their destination.

A Lawyer friend fo mine and I discussed this Yesterday over a Pint and he said that they stand absolutely no chance of a conviction as the only proof they have is his credit card statement, and that only proves he paid for the trip, which is not a crime (Yet at least!!)

 

[Thermo]

fwl, i agree with you i would be very hard to prove, i was just clarifying the earlier point of how it would be regarded as an offence over here

 

[felix]

Certain offences can be chrged even if they occur outside of the country, if they concern a british national, eg peadophilea in thailand

And that's another highly dubious idea. If British nationals break the law in Thailand they should be sent back and charged there. Better still, why not nail the real villains, the suppliers.