UNITED KINGDOM
Fri, 25 May 2007
Three Years Prison for Mercy Killing of Wife
The Halifax Evening Courier, in Yorkshire, UK, reported:-
A Three-year jail sentence for a devoted husband who
killed his wife after she begged him to help her die has been
branded too harsh by a Calderdale priest.
Retired accountant Frank Lund, 58, formerly of Hebden Bridge,
was sentenced to life and ordered to serve a minimum of three
years in jail yesterday. He had admitted suffocating wife Patricia,
65, with a plastic bag and a pillow at their home in New Brighton,
Merseyside, last September.
But Kevin Firth, Roman Catholic Dean of Halifax, said although
Lund's actions went against Roman Catholic teaching, the sentence
was "severe". "The Christian teaching is that from
conception to death, life should be preserved," he said.
"The Catholic church would view assisted suicide as wrong
but it seems a severe sentence in the circumstances."
Mr Lund denied murder on the grounds that Mrs Lund, his wife
of 33 years, had persuaded him to help her die after her life
had been made miserable by an irritable bowel condition. His claims
were not contested during a three-day trial at Liverpool Crown
Court, where he was supported by his wife's relatives.
But he was found guilty after the jury was told to put aside
sympathy and judge him on the fact he deliberately killed his
wife. The court heard that Mrs Lund's sons, Daniel and Stephen,
wrote to the judge asking for leniency, stating Lund was only
there because he loved his wife "absolutely and selflessly".
Lund's solicitor John Weate said the sons had suffered double
grief, devastation at the loss of their mother and the consequences
suffered by Lund, their stepfather. He said they would support
Lund.
Mr Justice Silber described the case as "highly unusual
if not unique." Jannette Parsons, president of Calderdale
Pensioners' Association, said people who carried out such acts
should be prepared for jail. A spokesman for pro-euthanasia group
Dignity in Dying said: "The current law on assisted dying
is failing the vulnerable. "As it stands there is no sure
way of knowing what Patricia Lund wanted. "If the Assisted
Dying for the Terminally Ill Bill was in place, requests for help
to die could be expressed openly."
The Halifax Evening Courier, in Yorkshire, UK, reported:-
Calderdale doctors have branded the debate over legalising euthanasia
"an ethical minefield." Dr John Chatterjee, secretary
of the Calderdale Local Medical Committee, said he did not think
there would ever be "black and white" guidelines for
the issue.
He was responding to a survey which said 42 per cent of GPs would
be prepared to help a patient die if physician-assisted suicide
were legalised. The survey, carried out by GPs magazine Pulse,
questioned more than 300 GPs.
Dr Chatterjee said the decision would be for the patient, their
family and the physician caring for them to make.
