Graham Mansfield was found not guilty of murder after cutting his wife’s throat “in an act of love” before trying to kill himself, after a judge accepted the couple had made a suicide pact.
It took 90 minutes for a jury to clear Mansfield, 73, from Hale in Greater Manchester, of the charge of murder after he gave an emotional testimony of how he had killed his wife, Dyanne, because she was in such pain with terminal cancer. He was, though, given a suspended sentence of two years after being found guilty of manslaughter.
Outside the court on Thursday, the retired baggage handler and union rep called for a change in the law on assisted dying. “I’d just like to say, the law needs to change,” he said. “Nobody should have to go through what we went through. Unfortunately, today my wife is not here. She shouldn’t have had to die in such barbaric circumstances. That was what we had to resort to.”
What’s the law?
Euthanasia is illegal throughout the UK and can be prosecuted as murder or manslaughter.
“Assisting or encouraging” another person’s suicide is illegal in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. There is no specific offence of assisting or encouraging suicide in Scotland.
How often do prosecutions happen?
There were 174 cases referred to the CPS by the police that have been recorded as assisted suicide in England and Wales between 1 April 2009 and 31 March 2022. All but 26 of these were withdrawn by the police or not proceeded with by the CPS.
By March 2022, there were eight ongoing cases in England and Wales. Four cases of encouraging or assisting suicide had been successfully prosecuted. One case of assisted suicide was charged and acquitted after trial in May 2015 and eight cases were referred for prosecution for homicide or other serious crime.
The last known prosecution in Scotland was in 2006, in an unreported case.
Have people ever tried to change the law?
Diane Pretty, who had motor neurone disease, wanted to control the time and manner of her death but needed help from her husband to die. Pretty asked the government to guarantee that her husband would not be prosecuted if he helped her die. The House of Lords and European court of human rights both rejected her case.
Pretty died on 11 May 2002 aged 43.
Tony Nicklinson had a stroke in 2005. He wanted to end his life but, as he was paralysed, he could not do so without help.
Nicklinson asked the high court to state it would be lawful for a doctor to help him die, or that the ban on assisted dying was incompatible with his right to private life. The court refused to do either. Shortly afterwards, Nicklinson refused food and water and died of pneumonia.
His wife, Jane, continued his case in the court of appeal and the supreme court, adding Paul Lamb to the case. Lamb had been unable to move anything except his right hand after a car crash in 1991. He also wanted help to end his life.
The majority of the supreme court said they could not decide the ban was incompatible – unless parliament acted to reform it. That, said campaigners, was a clear sign to parliament that if it did not address assisted dying, the courts may do so.
Martin suffered a brainstem stroke in August 2008 that left him almost completely unable to move. He wanted to end his life by travelling abroad. Martin argued that the DPP policy on encouraging or assisting suicide was not clear enough for people to know how they could provide assistance without the risk of being prosecuted.
The DPP clarified the policy in 2014: the law now states that anyone who provides assistance is breaking the law.
What are the key arguments used in the debate against physician-assisted dying?
An assisted-dying law would imply it was something everyone elderly, seriously ill or disabled “ought” to consider.
No safeguard could ensure decisions are truly voluntary.
Society should instead ensure palliative care is available to all.
A doctor’s role is not to deliberately bring about a patient’s death.
What are they key arguments used in the debate for physician-assisted dying?
Palliative care can’t relieve all pain and distress.
Physician-assisted dying is legal for more than 150 million people around the world, with eligibility criteria, safeguards and regulation in place.
End-of-life practices are legal in the UK. The same safeguards could be used in assisted-dying legislation.
The current law is not working, with UK citizens travelling to facilities such as Dignitas in Switzerland. But they need to be well enough to travel, meaning they often end their lives sooner than they would have wished.
• In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at www.befrienders.org.
