Thackray Williams

Following the ruling by the House of Lords in favour of Debbie Purdy, the Director of Public Prosecutions announced a list of factors to be considered when deciding whether to prosecute a person that assisted someone to die.  A twelve week consultation period followed and the final guidelines have now been issued.  The following are a summary of the points to be taken into consideration by the Crown Prosecution Service when deciding whether or not to prosecute.

Factors in favour of prosecution

• The victim was under the age of 18;
• The victim did not have the prescribed level of mental capacity to make an informed decision to commit suicide
• The victim had no clear, settled and informed wish to commit suicide;
• There was no clear and unequivocal wish was communicated by the victim that they wanted to commit suicide;
• The victim did not ask under their own initiative to be assisted by the suspect;
• The victim’s motive for assisting was not wholly due to a compassionate reason;
• The victim was pressured, maliciously encouraged or persuaded to commit suicide by the suspect or no reasonable steps were taken to make sure that no other person did not do so;
• The victim was able physically to undertake the act that was carried out by the suspect;
• The suspect had a history of abuse or violence against the victim;
• The victim was physically able to carry out the act without assistance;
• The suspect was unknown by the victim and encouraged or assisted following contact through a third party, e.g. a website, advertisement or publication.
• The suspect gave encouragement or assistance to more than one victim who were not known to each other;
• The suspect received payment from the victim or a close family member for their assistance or encouragement;
• The suspect was acting in their authority as a medical practitioner, professional carer, unpaid carer, or a person in authority who the victim was in the authority of;
• The suspect knew that the victim intended to commit suicide in a public place where it was reasonable to suspect that members of the public could be present;
• The suspect was a member of an organization whose main purpose is to provide an environment to allow someone to commit suicide.

Factors against prosecution

• The victim had a clear, settled and informed wish to commit suicide and this wish was made voluntarily;
• The motivation of the suspect to assist the victim was wholly based on compassion;
• The assistance provided by the suspect was minor assistance or action that they would undertake under their lawful employment;
• The suspect actively tried to dissuade the victim from taking the action that resulted in suicide;
• The suspects actions may be classified as a reluctance to assist in the face of determination of the victim to commit suicide;
• The suspect fully assisted the police in their enquiries and informed the police of the suicide and their involvement in it.

These are only factors that need to be considered by the Crown Prosecution Service when deciding whether to prosecute.  Assisted suicide is illegal and the guidance is not intended to show someone how to help someone commit suicide.  Even if you believe that most of the factors listed would not result in a prosecution this is no guarantee as you would still be committing a criminal offence which could result in a lengthy prison sentence.

For more information contact Mark Stubberfield on 020 8290 0440 or email: mark.stubberfield@thackraywilliams.com