Like many people, Graham and Dyanne Mansfield had lots of exciting plans for 2020. It was the year of their 40th wedding anniversary, and the devoted couple had three holidays booked.
In September they were due to travel around America to celebrate the milestone, returning to the country where they originally tied the knot four decades ago, in Las Vegas. But the coronavirus put paid to all of that.
For most, this alone would be a blow. But sadly the couple had much more horrifying news around the corner.
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The month after they had been due to travel to the USA for their dream holiday, 71-year-old Dyanne was diagnosed with terminal cancer. And Graham, 73, could not imagine life without his wife.
A fit and active couple who didn't have children, they did everything together. Passions they shared included cycling, gardening and playing badminton.
Dyanne quickly deteriorated and began to waste away in front of Graham's eyes. In desperation and despair, a suicide pact was agreed. It would end in the 73-year-old retired baggage handler, who'd never previously been in trouble with the law before, becoming a convicted killer.
Now, his conviction raises questions over whether the law surrounding mercy killings should be changed, and whether Mansfield should have even been prosecuted.
Juries at Manchester's courts hear cases of people accused of killing others with grim regularity. But it's extraordinarily rare to see someone found guilty of causing the violent death of another walk out of the front door of a courtroom, knowing they will never spend a day in prison, forgiven by the family of the deceased, and told by the sentencing judge that they acted out of love.
As elderly loved ones come to the end of their lives, many families have tough conversations about what will happen when they are gone.
But shortly after the bombshell diagnosis in October last year, Dyanne and Graham had a conversation which can barely be imagined. "Dyanne said 'when it gets too bad, don’t leave me to go into hospital. Please do something about it, kill me'," Graham Mansfield would later recall.
The thought disgusted him. "I said to her, Dyanne it sounds macabre, it sounds horrible, how can I ever dream of killing the woman you love? I just want to be with you forever."
But such was the pain that Dyanne was in, Mansfield agreed. Then, came the shocking task of having to research the most effective way of killing a soulmate, to ensure a quick death.
Months went by, and she became weaker and weaker. By March last year, Dyanne had weeks to live. She was struggling to walk and could barely eat, only managing foods such as ice cream or rice pudding.
"We knew our time was up," Mansfield said. Venues for their deaths were researched. Ashley in Cheshire and Buxton were ruled out.
Instead they decided on their back garden, as it was a place both loved to be and cherish. Mansfield planned the pact for 9pm, so it would be dark and those living nearby wouldn't be able to witness the horrors unfold.
He cancelled their milk and newspaper deliveries, the window cleaner, and even topped up the bird feed in the garden. After a couple of whiskies and some red wine for Dutch courage, Graham and Dyanne Mansfield walked the short distance from their home to the bottom of the garden, to what should have been the scene of both of their deaths.
Each sitting on a garden chair, Mansfield then moved behind his wife and slit her throat. Soon after, he did the same to himself. But no matter how hard he tried, it didn't work. Slit wrists and an attempted overdose did not finish him off.
"How bloody hard is it to kill yourself!", Mansfield told a 999 operator, holding the landline phone as he lay on the floor of his kitchen, covered in blood and seriously injured.
As he lay on the floor, Mansfield was arrested on suspicion of murder. Two notes were found by police. One, left near his wife's body and written by Mansfield, addressed to police, read: "We've decided to take our own lives."
Another addressed to his family, left in an envelope in the kitchen, added: "Don’t be too upset. We have had a wonderful and happy life together."
"He kept saying 'please just leave me to die'," a police officer who rushed to the scene recalled. Mansfield only called 999 to avoid the prospect of his sister happening upon the appalling scene.
Ever since that 999 call, made at 9.14am on Wednesday, March 24 last year, and being charged with murder in January, Mansfield faced the prospect of a life sentence in jail, as well as living life without his partner of more than 40 years.
That morning was the first their family had learned of the couple's secret pact. But to the last, Dyanne's family supported him. Her brother Peter, who supported him every day at court, even begged the judge to avoid sending his brother-in-law to jail.
Ultimately Mansfield was acquitted of murder, after a jury accepted he had acted out of love to end his wife's suffering. His barrister said Mansfield made the 'ultimate sacrifice', now being a convicted killer.
The judge had earlier ruled that under the law, Mansfield did not have a defence to manslaughter. But new guidelines currently being considered by The Crown Prosecution Service, drawn following a public consultation, raise the question, for those closest to the case, whether Mansfield should have been prosecuted in the first place.
The draft guidance lays out factors for prosecutors to consider before deciding if it is in the public interest to pursue a case to court. Factors which would make a prosecution 'less likely' include if the victim had reached a voluntary, settled and informed decision to end their life, if the killer was 'wholly motivated by compassion', if they also tried to kill themselves and if they co-operated with police.
Richard Orme, Mansfield's barrister during the trial, told the M.E.N. his client's case appeared to 'tick all the boxes' for it not being in the public interest to charge.
Conversely, other factors which could increase the likelihood of a prosecution include if the victim was under 18, if the deceased lacked mental capacity to make an informed decision, if there was a history of violence or abuse, or if the accused had a financial motive.
"One therefore has to ask why on earth have they (The CPS) pursued Graham Mansfield?," Mr Orme said. "I think it's brutal. In 25 years of doing this job I don't think I've met a nicer client in my life.
"A man of integrity, compassion, sensitivity, intelligence, he made a promise to his wife and he fulfilled that promise. It was a conditional promise. He said 'I will only do it if I can come with you'.
"I think (the case) was a complete waste of taxpayers' money. All of the considerations, the factors identified that suggest it wouldn't be in the public interest to proceed with a prosecution, are all satisfied."
Mansfield's solicitor Rachel Fletcher, of law firm Slater Heelis, added: "I am pleased this ordeal is over for Graham. He should never have been charged and in the future he probably wouldn’t have been.
"The law in this country is brutal and needs to catch up with other countries throughout the world."
After the case, the Crown Prosecution Service said the proposed update to the legal guidance on murder and manslaughter, to be published at a later date, would not decriminalise mercy killings. It said the factors favouring or dissuading suspects being charged are not an exhaustive list.
Commenting on Mansfield's case, the CPS said a lack of evidence to independently confirm Dyanne's wishes meant a prosecution was in the public interest. Martin Goldman, Chief Crown Prosecutor for CPS North West said: "This was a tragic case where Dyanne Mansfield lost her life at the hands of her husband.
"Failed suicide pacts are an emotive subject. As prosecutors we carefully weighed the evidence in this case, including the lack of any evidence to confirm Dyanne Mansfield’s wishes, and using our legal guidance determined that a prosecution was in the public interest.
"The CPS produced evidence at court in form of witness testimony, forensic evidence and exhibits to show the planning involved in the death of Dyanne Mansfield. Mansfield failed to convince the jury that this had been a lawful killing."
Walking free from court after being handed a suspended prison sentence, Graham Mansfield called for the law to be changed. He says he does not want anyone else to have to carry out the same barbaric act that he did in future, and then have to endure added trauma of a crown court trial.
Later, in an interview with the M.E.N, he described the couple's ordeal in harrowing detail, adding: "We have done nothing wrong. We didn't need permission from other people. It was our decision. I killed her with love.
"If someone is terminally ill, if they're in pain, what's wrong with saying I don't want to live any more? [Euthanasia] is a humane and sensible way to do things. The law meant we had to resort to this barbaric method."
Meanwhile, Dyanne Mansfield’s brother, Peter Higson, has spoken out about the case – saying he was in a similar situation with his own wife 10 years ago.
Speaking on ITV Granada , he said: “I was in a similar situation about 10 years ago with my wife who had an incurable disease. She had muscular dystrophy and she died of cancer and asked me to end her life because she couldn’t stand the pain any longer. I couldn’t take that next step, but Graham did.”
Assisted dying campaigners believe the case supports their calls for euthanasia to be legalised. Among them Alex Pandolfo, who has dementia and wishes to end his life on his own terms in Switzerland.
He said of the case: "Legally, it was a criminal act but morally, it was an act of love. Politicians have failed to adhere to the population who want a change in the law - politicians are standing idly by while people suffer.
"Tell me what is life? For me, life is not the fact that you have a pulse and a heartbeat. Life is about what you can do and what you can enjoy. I would love to meet up with Mr Mansfield and shake his hand. I back every word he said about a change in the law.
"I do not see him as a criminal. It was an act of love - and act of compassion. The fact that he ended up in court is the fault of the law. At one point in time women couldn't vote and in many senses assisted dying is one of the last taboos."
It is undoubtedly a case that has awakened debate. Debate that shows that assisted dying is destined to remain an emotive issue - with strongly held concerns on all sides.
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