Sean Davison is currently serving a sentence of three years correctional supervision in South Africa. Photo / File
Sean Davison is currently serving a sentence of three years correctional supervision in South Africa. Photo / File
A professor and euthanasia advocate who was found guilty of multiple murders in South Africa has been censured for not disclosing details of murder charges to New Zealand's Medical Council.
Sean Davison, who formerly worked as a registered lab scientist in Dunedin, failed to disclose to the Medical Council about his involvement in two of the three murders when he applied for registration in New Zealand.
These all relate to Davison assisting people in ending their lives, but these cases weren't his first experience bending the rules regarding assisted suicide.
In August 2006, he came back to New Zealand to care for his dying mother, and around September that year she commenced a water-only diet.
She wanted to die and had asked several people, including Davison to help her to do that, which he did using a morphine overdose.
She died that night but no post-mortem examination was ever carried out it is not possible to say whether she died from the overdose or not.
This offending only came to light after a draft copy of a manuscript of a book he wrote was sent to a journalist. Someone then sent this to the Auckland Police.
In November 2011 he was sentenced, during which it was noted that the evidence. including the manuscript for his own book satisfied the judge that he knew at the time of the offending he was breaking the law.
At the time, it was ruled that he had a low risk of reoffending, and was sentenced to home detention for a five month period and was discharged on the original count of attempted murder, which the Crown had elected not to pursue.
The South African murders
In 2013 Davison unlawfully and intentionally killed Dr Anrich Burger, a medical doctor and quadriplegic, by administering a lethal concoction of drugs.
Two years later, in July 2015, he killed Justin Varian, who had a diagnosis of motor neurone disease.
Later that year also in South Africa he killed Richard Holland, who had suffered brain injuries and had no motor function, by administering a lethal dose of fluid containing pentobarbital.
Registration in New Zealand
In early 2017 Davison submitted an online form indicating that he wished to return to New Zealand to work as a medical laboratory scientist.
When asked whether he had any criminal convictions or criminal charges pending he said he was convicted of assisted suicide of his mother in 2011.
Sean Davison told the Medical Council he was convicted of assisted suicide of his mother Patricia in 2011.
"My mother was a medical doctor who was terminally ill and went on a failed hunger strike to end her life. I assisted her to take an overdose of morphine at her pleading".
The Medical Council of New Zealand also received documents in support of his application including a South African police clearance certificate dated June 21, 2017 stating that "no convictions have been recorded for any crime in the Republic of South Africa against [Mr Davison]".
After an internet search of his 2011 conviction revealed he had offended again in South Africa the council asked Davison to provide evidence of any rehabilitative steps taken since these matters, before his application was considered further.
In response, Davison wrote a letter focusing on the advocacy work he had done regarding physician-assisted dying and he referred to his public profile on this topic.
He advised the council that if his application was approved he didn't intend to be involved in the local campaign to seek a law change on assisted dying.
"I hope the MRC [sic] Council will appreciate that although I am campaigning for a law change on assisted dying I am doing it in a dignified manner that will not impact adversely in my role as a health practitioner in New Zealand."
In this letter he did not disclose that he had been involved in assisting with the deaths of Burger, Varian or Holland.
A month later, the council registrar sent a letter to Davison asking him to comment on the accuracy of a media report from the Citizen Newspaper dated September 27, 2014 and to provide confirmation he was not facing any criminal charges.
He wrote back in late April acknowledging the essence of the report was correct as he did assist in Burger's suicide in 2013, but stated the headline to the report correctly stated his unwillingness to assist in euthanasia again.
"It is important to note that my assistance occurred in a country, South Africa, where although the law related to assisted suicides is similar to New Zealand's, it is essentially decriminalised until a new law is in place. For that reason, Dr Burger was able to inform the police of what he was going to do prior to ending his life."
Davison told the Council he certainly wasn't going to take a "foolish risk" of being arrested and imprisoned in South Africa.
"A prison sentence is close to a death sentence because AIDS is so endemic in South African prisons. Dr Burger was also not willing to put me at such risk without careful assurances from the Police."
He also gave assurances that he would not be assisting with any suicides in New Zealand and also submitted his police clearance.
"Above all else I do not want to compromise the future of my young children."
On July 17, 2018, the council's registration committee confirmed conditions on scope and provisional registration. A confirmation of registration letter and certificate was sent to Davison on July 19, 2018.
However, just months later in September Davison was arrested in South Africa and charged with the murder of Burger and in November the murder of Varian, then also charged with Holland's death in April 2019.
He pleaded guilty to all three charges, but did not notify the council, which only became aware of the convictions through the media.
The council registrar sent a letter to Davison on July 11, 2019 requesting further information from him about the convictions and also to seek clarification about the information he had provided to the council in his letter of April 29, 2018.
In that letter Davison had asserted that suicide is "essentially decriminalised" in South Africa.
He responded by saying the reason that he had not disclosed to the council that he was involved in the deaths of Varian and Holland: "because my involvement was minor compared to Dr Burger's death".
Davison admitted that in the period prior to his registration with the council (and from July 19, 2018, when he was granted provisional registration with the council, until on or about August 15, 2019) he did not disclose to the council that he had been involved in the murders of Varian and Holland.
In its ruling, the Health Practitioners Medical Tribunal accepted that Davison acted out of genuine compassion and empathy for his victims.
"This was recognised by the South African court in the significantly reduced sentence it imposed, an approach which was supported by family members of all three victims."
Lawyers for the Medical Council, the professional conduct committee submitted that his actions were "deliberate and serious breaches of the obligation on all health practitioners to respect the sanctity of life" enshrined in section 8 of the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990.
The tribunal ruled that his conduct reflected adversely on his fitness to practise because he knowingly committed unlawful criminal acts of a very serious nature in South Africa.
A charge of professional misconduct was upheld because of his failure to notify the council of his involvement in Varian and Holland's death as well as all three of the murder convictions.
