Inquest raises concerns about 'suicide tourism'

1.00pm - By MAXINE FRITH

LONDON - A British couple who were not terminally ill were helped to kill themselves at a controversial Swiss euthanasia clinic, an inquest heard yesterday.

Robert and Jennifer Stokes both had a history of mental illness and failed suicide attempts and were in constant pain from chronic diseases but were not considered to be dying.

Despite this, doctors at the Zurich-based Dignitas clinic supplied them with a lethal drugs overdose after agreeing they should be allowed to commit suicide.

Mr Stokes, 59, and his 53-year-old wife died in each other's arms on a bed in the clinic's "death room" in March last year.

The case raises serious concerns about so-called "suicide tourism" and the way in which Dignitas helps people to take their own lives.

Under Swiss law, assisted suicide is a crime only if those providing the help can be shown to have acted out of self-interest.

But patients must have a terminal illness and be of sound judgement.

Mr and Mrs Stokes did not appear to fulfill either of these criteria.

Recording verdicts of suicide yesterday, Bedfordshire coroner David Morris said: "No evidence has been put to me that either of them were in any terminal state or expected imminent death.

"They planned and intended to bring about the end of their lives in Switzerland.

"They were meticulous in the way they arranged their affairs."

The couple met when both were patients at a psychiatric hospital in the 1970s.

Mrs Stokes had a history of depression and had repeatedly attempted suicide during her previous marriage.

Medical notes referred to her as having a "paranoid personality".

In 1983 a road accident had left her in constant pain with severe, inoperable spinal problems.

She needed help washing and dressing and in 1998 was also diagnosed with diabetes.

Mr Stokes, a retired carpenter, suffered up to three severe epileptic fits a week and also had a history of depression.

His medical reports said he had "an inadequate personality with suicidal elements."

The couple's son, David, said: "I considered them both to be mentally disturbed.

"I know my parents were not terminally ill. The only terminal illness they had was in their heads."

Mr and Mrs Stokes had tried to kill themselves in 1990 and 2001, but on both occasions had been found and taken to hospital.

Friends said they were both in constant pain and terrified of being separated into different care homes.

They first heard about Dignitas last year, following the case of Reginald Crew, the first British man to die at the clinic.

The couple paid £10 each to join the organisation, set up by lawyer Ludwig Minelli in 1998.

Members of Dignitas are supposed to be assessed by doctors at the clinic to confirm that they are terminally ill without the chance of recovery, and have made a rational decision to die.

On March 31 last year, Mr and Mrs Stokes left their care home in Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire, and flew to Zurich.

Neither of their two children or the other residents in the home knew of their plans, but the couple had already written letters to their solicitor detailing arrangements for the repatriation of their bodies and their funeral wishes.

The following afternoon, they left their hotel and arrived at a fourth-floor flat in Zurich used by Dignitas.

The flat has a living room, a kitchen for preparing the overdoses and a "death room" with two beds.

At 4.30pm, euthanasia assistant Erica Luley prepared two 15mg liquid doses of pentobarbitone, a drug normally used by vets to put down animals and the couple went into the death room.

Mr Stokes helped his wife to drink her dose through a straw before lying beside her on a bed and taking his own overdose.

The couple were confirmed dead within half an hour of each other.

The case has sparked an inquiry by the Swiss authorities and the proposals for tougher regulations on the way assisted suicide is tolerated.

Dignitas has more than 1600 members and has so far helped 150 people to die, two-thirds of them foreigners who have travelled to Switzerland to take advantage of the law.

Following the inquest, Mr and Mrs Stokes' daughter Helen said: "Although I cannot condone [Dignitas'] actions I do accept and understand my parents' decision.

"They both suffered many years of ill-health and the possibility of their lives continuing without each other was an unbearable thought.

"I do believe that it was with fear and courage that my parents chose to take their own lives."

Pro-euthanasia groups condemned Dignitas but said the case highlighted the need for assisted suicide to be legalised and strictly regulated in Britain.

A spokesman for the Voluntary Euthanasia Society said: "This was a horrifying case and it indicates the effect of the laws we have now.

"Unless the Government puts in place laws that regulate assisted suicide, more people will die this way."

- INDEPENDENT