Britain: An interview with Alan Cutkelvin Rees

Description: [of the article from The Independent]

This report begins: Alan Cutkelvin Rees is, technically, a free man. Nearly a year after he was arrested on suspicion of helping his long-term partner to commit suicide, the Crown Prosecution Service has decided not to prosecute. But he is not celebrating. "It has been hell," he said, speaking exclusively to The Independent on Sunday, only hours after hearing the decision.

It lifts a cloud of uncertainty that has hovered over Mr Cutkelvin Rees, 57, since he travelled to the Swiss euthanasia clinic Dignitas with his terminally ill civil partner, Raymond Cutkelvin, in February 2007.

Later, Rees says: "Raymond should have been able to die at home or at a clinic here. He was totally sane; it was his decision. So in a way I wanted to be charged and go to court, because I don't think any jury would have found me guilty. That could have helped change the law.""

And
He has found comfort from his friend, pro-euthanasia campaigner Dr Michael Irwin, who gave the couple 1,500 pounds towards the cost of Dignitas and travelled with them to Zurich. Together they are outspoken about the current two-tier system which means only those with money can travel to Switzerland for help to die.

[There is information in the Notes section below.]
[There are other related stories in the Links section below.]

Links:

To read the full article click on one of these links, both of which go to the same destination. A short link is provided for the convenience of readers. Also, readers may search and browse past and future advisories on the web (see bottom.)

  • http://tinyurl.com/2alf5h6

  • http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/news/assisted-suicide-case-ray-should-have-been-able-to-die-at-home-2011530.html

    Also see:

  • Britain: An interview with Michael Irwin [The Argus]
    http://www.theargus.co.uk/news/8239966.Charges_dropped_against_Hove_Dr_Death/
    Extracts:
    Retired GP Dr Michael Irwin was arrested after helping Raymond Cutkelvin, 58, of Hackney, north London, end his life at the Dignitas suicide clinic in Switzerland. Dr Irwin, of Cromwell Road Hove, has been told today that the Crown Prosecution Service had dropped the case against him.

    Euthanasia campaigner Dr Irwin said he had "mixed feelings" about not being charged. He said: "It is nice after being on bail for 11 months for the matter to be resolved in this manner. "On the other hand, I want to keep on talking about the situation where we have a two-tier system in this country. "If you have got money and are terminally ill, you can go to Switzerland for assisted suicide. "But if you have not got money, you are stuck here and possibilities and outcomes remain uncertain.

  • Assisted suicide law broken. No prosecution. Innocent. [The EXIT euthanasia blog]
    http://exiteuthanasia.wordpress.com/2010/06/25/law-broken-no-prosecution-presumed-innocent/
    In the course of reviewing the decision by the Director of Public Prosecutions about Dr Michael Irwin and Alan Cutkelvin Rees, the EXIT blog makes the following comment on right to die groups:
    `Right-to-die' groups generally fall into three categories, depending on their priorities, capabilities, and what they judge to be the best approach. conservative groups such as the London-based Dignity in Dying, maintain a very narrow remit, tailored towards the best possibility of changing the law and so benefitting those in the future. Exit focuses on helping those in the present, particularly by providing reliable information and workshops, quietly and legally. A more extreme approach verges on civil disobedience, in the hope that high profile cases will trigger a change in the law. Although it risks having workshops closed down or possible jail sentences (which might preclude helping a much larger number of people). Dr Irwin has staked his position publicly by daring authorities to take action against him (as does Philip Nitschke's ‘Exit International’ - no connection to EXIT - on a frequent basis.) It is, of course, impossible to say which is ‘the best’ way without the benefit of hindsight. Any or none of these approaches can work. Or legal change might come due to entirely different factors, such as a change of opinion with the professions or the influence of academic studies on governments.

Source:

"Assisted suicide case: 'Ray should have been able to die at home'". The Independent. Sunday, 27 June 2010. <www.independent.co.uk/news/people/news/assisted-suicide-case-ray-should-have-been-able-to-die-at-home-2011530.html>. The Independent, 2 Derry Street, London W8 5HF, UK.

Tags:

Tags (or keywords) briefly indicate some major topics of the report.

  • assisted suicide

  • Dignitas

  • Cutkelvin Rees

  • Michael Irwin

  • Keir Starmer

  • prosecution

  • Britain

Notes:

  • Free copies of "Final Exit" for American libraries [World right-to-die news list]
    http://lists.opn.org/pipermail/right-to-die_lists.opn.org/2010-June/003941.html

    Derek Humphry writes: As I've reported on this ERGO news list before, a supporter bequeathed a large sum of money so that ERGO could distribute complimentary copies of the book 'Final Exit' to US public lending libraries now that their acquisition budgets are being cut so severely.

    We now have a web site up by which a library may ask for a free copy. http://www.finalexitforlibraries.com/

    If you know people in the library field, or have contact with your local library, please tell them of this remarkable site. We are already in the process of distributing hundreds of copies to libraries.

ID:

The EuthaNEWSia ID for this advisory is: enid201006291677.
Mailed: Tuesday, June 29, 2010 14:22:40 -0600
at Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.

Etcetera:

EuthaNEWSia is a free Canadian news advisory service covering end-of-life issues such as right to die, assisted suicide, and euthanasia. EuthaNEWSia is produced by the Right to Die Society of Canada which works toward a good death for all, including open, regulated and equitable access to euthanasia and assisted suicide. The editor is Michael Dawson <editor@euthanewsia.ca>. 

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