Stroke victim seeks mercy-killing ruling

Tony Nicklinson is a man who once loved the sound of his own voice. His wife describes him as "very opinionated" and his two daughters say he was never happier than when he was quizzing them over the suitability of their boyfriends.

But five years ago a paralysing stroke left the British man locked inside his body, able only to communicate by moving his eyes and head.

Today he wants the right to die, but without exposing his wife Jane or daughters to prosecution for murder.

In a High Court test case, to be heard later this year, his family will challenge Keir Starmer QC, the Director of Public Prosecutions, over his policy on "mercy killings".

The Nicklinson case goes beyond the debate about assisted suicide because Nicklinson, a former rugby player and corporate manager, cannot perform the final physical act of taking his own life.

The family hopes the case will build on the guidance on assisted suicide issued after Debbie Purdy, who suffers from MS, won her legal challenge in the House of Lords. If the law can't protect Jane Nicklinson from prosecution she says she will consider other options.

- Independent