BBC man admits mercy killing

A BBC television presenter has admitted that he carried out the mercy killing of a lover who had Aids.

Ray Gosling, a veteran documentary-maker, said he had smothered the man with a pillow as he lay in his hospital bed, after doctors said they couldn't help relieve his suffering.

He claimed he had previously made a pact with the man, whom he did not name, that he would help him die if his pain became unbearable.

Gosling insisted that he had no regrets about his "startling confession".

He made the admission during a film in which he looked ahead to his own death and funeral for BBC East Midlands' Inside Out show.