“There has been a lull in the media recently about the rights and wrongs of assisted dying, but the conflict is sure to break out again with the imminent publication of the report from Lord Falconer’s commission, established to consider changes to the law.”
The Guardian, 1st January 2012
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“The law on assisted dying is ‘incoherent and unsafe’ and must be changed, the former Metropolitan Police commissioner Ian Blair warns today, ahead of a landmark report on helping the terminally ill to take their own lives.”
The Independent, 1st Janaury 2012
Source: www.independent.co.uk
“Guidance on how to deal with complaints against doctors who may have assisted in suicides will be published by the General Medical Council.”
BBC News, 16th December 2011
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
“Lord Falconer has read or listened to more than 1,000 submissions, endured foul abuse from an array of angry voices and, as head of the commission examining reforms to the law on assisted suicide, is predicting trouble even from his more rational critics when the conclusions are published next month.”
The Guardian, 16th October 2011
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“More than 40 people have killed themselves with the help of their friends or family since new guidelines were introduced that effectively decriminalised assisted suicide, official figures obtained by The Daily Telegraph have disclosed.”
Daily Telegraph, 3rd September 2011
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
“A report in the Guardian this evening (18 August) states ‘the case of Debbie Purdy in 2009 established that friends and family could help someone who is terminally ill travel to Dignitas without fear of prosecution on their return.'”
CPS News Brief, 18th August 2011
Source: http://blog.cps.gov.uk
“A 46-year-old-man who wants to die after a stroke that left him almost completely paralysed is bringing a groundbreaking legal action that could effectively lead to the legalisation of assisted suicide in the UK.”
The Guardian, 18th August 2011
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“Encouraging or helping anyone to kill themselves is outlawed in the UK under section 2 of the Suicide Act 1961; the maximum penalty is 14 years’ imprisonment. It is not illegal, however, for an individual to attempt to kill him or herself.”
The Guardian, 18th August 2011
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“One of England’s largest health authorities has said it is not opposed to assisted suicide and called for a change in the law to give patients more ‘choice’ over how they die.”
Daily Telegraph, 24th February 2011
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
“Appeal judges overturn the custodial sentence for the manslaughter of his ill wife in favour of a suspended term.”
The Guardian, 26th January 2011
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“The mandatory life sentence for murder is unknown in other countries and distorts the law.”
Daily Telegraph, 2nd December 2010
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
“An inquiry into assisted dying in the UK will be objective and dispassionate, its chair, the former lord chancellor Lord Falconer, promised as it was launched today.”
The Guardian, 30th November 2010
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“Vulnerable elderly and disabled people will feel pressured to end their lives if the law on assisted dying is relaxed, disability campaigners have claimed.”
Daily Telegraph, 29th November 2010
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
“Lord Falconer, the former lord chancellor, is to chair a commission that will question whether or not relatives should be able to apply to a judge for permission to assist a loved one to commit suicide.”
The Guardian, 29th November 2010
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“The old, ill, mute and frail will be deemed expendable if assisted suicide is legalised, a thinktank says today. Society’s most vulnerable risk being bullied into an early death by greedy or uncaring relatives or bureaucrats, according to a study published by the Centre for Policy Studies.”
The Guardian, 18th October 2010
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
“The Crown Prosecution Service has decided that charges will not be brought against Dr Elisabeth Wilson and two individuals following the death of Caroline Loder at her home in Surrey on 8 June 2009.”
Crown Prosecution Service, 16th August 2010
Source: www.cps.gov.uk
“Three people arrested over the suicide of a multiple sclerosis sufferer will not face prosecution, it has emerged.”
BBC News, 16th August 2010
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
“Prof David Jones said that if society agrees that it is in some people’s interests for them to end their own lives, it is difficult to resist the logical conclusion that others should be helped to die even if they have not made such a request.”
Daily Telegraph, 1st July 2010
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
“Keir Starmer QC, Director of Public Prosecutions, has today said that while there is sufficient evidence to prosecute Alan Cutkelvin Rees and Dr Michael Irwin in relation to the death of Raymond Cutkelvin at a Dignitas clinic in Switzerland in February 2007, such a prosecution would not be in the public interest and no further action should be taken against them.”
Crown Prosecution Service, 25th June 2010
Source: www.cps.gov.uk
“A former GP and right-to-die campaigner who took a man to a euthanasia clinic in Switzerland will not be prosecuted.”
BBC News, 25th June 2010
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
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