Earlier this month pharmacist Bipin Desai, above, was cleared of murdering his 85-year-old father, who ‘had a solid and firm wish to die.’
Mr Justice Green, according to this report, found that Desai had been “wrongly accused” of murder for killing his father with a lethal combination of morphine and insulin, and gave him a nine-month suspended sentence.
Delivering the sentence at Guildford Crown Court, the judge said:
Your acts of assistance were acts of pure compassion and mercy. Your father had a solid and firm wish to die. Being assisted to die would be fulfilling his wish of going to heaven to see his wife and being put out of his misery.
The court heard how Desai’s father had begged daily for help in ending his life after his wife and dog died.
Finally, the 59-year-old pharmacist put morphine stolen from his pharmacy into his father’s smoothie in August, 2015.
Bipin was also acquitted of two charges of theft for taking the insulin and morphine from his own practice. The judge described the stealing as “trivial”.
The judge now stands accused of making a “shocking” decision by Dr Anthony McCarthy, above, of the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children:
Are we now to believe that the killing of an innocent and vulnerable human being who is ‘tired of life’ is not to be regarded as a serious crime?
What now of any respect for laws and investigations which seek to protect the ineliminable value of all human lives, regardless of feelings of sadness and loss on the victim’s part which may perhaps respond to loving care and professional help?
Former Conservative minister Ann Widdecombe said she was:
Filled with unease about the precedent the case sets. Depression following bereavement is normal at any age but I need a lot of convincing that it is or ever should be a ground for euthanasia.
The law in England, Wales and Northern Ireland states that any person who intentionally encourages or assists the suicide or attempted suicide of another person can be sent to prison for a maximum of 14 years.
In 2015, a Bill to legalise assisted suicide was soundly defeated in the House of Commons.
Meanwhile, it’s reported here that Victoria has just become the first state in Australia to legalise assisted dying for the terminally ill, with MPs voting to give patients the right to request a lethal drug to end their lives from mid-2019.
After more than 100 hours of debate across both houses of Parliament and two demanding all-night sittings, Lower House MPs ratified the Andrews Government’s amended bill.
The bill will now go to the Governor for royal assent.
Premier Daniel Andrews, who came to support euthanasia after the death of his father last year, said it was an historic day.
This is a day of reform, a day of compassion, a day of giving control to those who are terminally ill.
Hat tip: BarrieJohn (Victoria report)