"Assisted suicide"

[Al-khiyal]

Edward Downes's son avoids assisted suicide charge

March 19, 2010 -- The son of the conductor Sir Edward Downes will not be charged with assisting his suicide, the director of public prosecutions said today. Keir Starmer said there was sufficient evidence to prosecute Caractacus Downes but it was not in the public interest to do so. Sir Edward, one of Britain's most respected conductors, died with his wife, Lady Joan Downes, at the Dignitas clinic in Switzerland on 10 July last year. The Metropolitan police launched an inquiry when officers were contacted by solicitors acting on behalf of Mr Downes to report their deaths. They found evidence that he had booked a hotel room in Switzerland for his parents and accompanied them overseas. Starmer said these acts would be sufficient to charge him with an offence under the Suicide Act 1961, of assisting suicide. But he said there was further evidence that Downes's parents reached a "voluntary, clear, settled and informed" decision to take their lives.

Starmer said that in helping them, Downes was "wholly motivated by compassion". He said: "Although his parents' wills show that Mr Downes stood to gain substantial benefit upon the death of his parents, there is no evidence to indicate that he was motivated by this prospect. Other factors against prosecution are that Mr Downes' actions in booking the hotel room can be characterised as of minor assistance and, after reporting the matter to the police, he fully assisted them in their inquiries into the circumstances of his parents' suicide." Starmer said he took into account new guidelines, which he published in February, making clear that motive should be at the centre of any decision on pressing charges. Prosecutors were also provided with evidence in relation to Downes's sister, Boudicca Downes, but took no further action against her.

Sir Edward had a long and distinguished career, including conducting the first performance at the Sydney Opera House. He worked with the BBC Philharmonic and the Royal Opera House in London, and was knighted in 1991. His 74-year-old wife, a choreographer and TV producer, had become his full-time carer. At the time of the couple's death, Caractacus and Boudicca released a statement saying their parents "died peacefully, and under circumstances of their own choosing". The statement continued: "After 54 happy years together, they decided to end their own lives rather than continue to struggle with serious health problems ... They both lived life to the full and considered themselves to be extremely lucky to have lived such rewarding lives, both professionally and personally."

This is the first case in which the public interest factors outlined in the new guidelines have been applied. They state that anyone acting with compassion to help end the life of someone who has decided they cannot go on is unlikely to face criminal charges. The document was published after law lords ruled in favour of Debbie Purdy, who has multiple sclerosis. She wanted to know whether her husband would be prosecuted for helping her to end her life. Assisted suicide remains a criminal offence in England and Wales, punishable by up to 14 years in prison. But prosecutors have not pushed forward cases against families and friends of the growing numbers of Britons who have travelled to Dignitas to die. Some people fear that relaxing the law on assisted suicide would lead to an increase in cases, and put people at risk of being pushed into taking their own lives.

[Al-khiyal]