Wife acquitted of failing to prevent CFS/ME husband's suicide

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The Independent (UK)

http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/legal/story.jsp?story=633712

Wife acquitted of failing to prevent husband's suicide

By Ian Herbert, North of England Correspondent 28 April 2005

A wife accused of standing by and doing nothing while her chronically ill

husband committed suicide has been cleared of manslaughter.

It took a jury of eight men and four women just two hours at the end of a

six-day trial to find Jill not guilty of causing the death of her

husband , 43, whom she had nursed through chronic fatigue syndrome

for eight years.

Mr , who had suffered from chronic fatigue syndrome - myalgic

encephalomyelitis - died in July 2003 after taking an overdose of pills,

including morphine.

The jury was told that Mrs , 49, waited until her husband was dead -

a delay of more than 16 hours - before calling an ambulance to the couple's

cottage at Galphay, near Ripon in North Yorkshire. She told police that Mr

, a linguist, had asked her not to stop him because the pain he was

suffering was unbearable.

Mrs , who showed no emotion in the dock as she was cleared, said

in a statement read out by Mewies, her solicitor that her actions had

been " totally vindicated " .

Mr Mewies, added: " She did what she thought was right and proper - and

more importantly what she believed her husband would have wished.

" She now needs time to reflect, to regain her health, and to grieve. Something

which hitherto she has been prevented from doing. "

's family reacted angrily to the verdict. His sister Sheila Wills

said: " By any standards of human behaviour, Jill's action in failing to summon

medical assistance was morally indefensible and this was compounded by

her cruel decision to withhold the news of his death. "

The family claims it only found out about the death six months later when Mrs

wrote to her husband's cousin, , the Labour MP for

Dumfries. " 's death was unnecessary - the one person to whom he

entrusted his care let him down, " Mrs Wills said.

The court was told that Mr had contracted myalgic

encephalomyelitis two days before the couple married in 1995. They had run

a freelance translation agency, but as his health progressively declined it

failed and he was declared bankrupt.

They had tried numerous treatments, but none had helped his increasing pain

in his back and joints. Both he and Mrs refused to accept that there

might be a psychological reason for his condition.

In 2002 he made two suicide attempts and on both occasions his wife

summoned medical help. But on July 17 2003 he took an overdose while his

wife was away from their home. On her return he told her, " I have taken too

much " , after which he lost consciousness.

When she looked at him at about 5am the next morning, he had turned blue.

Believing he had passed the point of recovery she stayed with him until he

took his last breath at about 9am. At 11am called the doctor and emergency

services.

Later she handed police a note that read: " I am sorry, I love you, I couldn't

take any more pain. Your Darling Bear " .

Detective Inspector Twiggs, the officer who led the investigation, said

the decision to bring the case to court was justified. " The case law on the

issue is at least 10 years old and the whole area around it will benefit, " he

said.

Hazel Biggs, a professor in medical law at Lancaster University, said she was

mystified by the decision to prosecute Mrs . " It did seem to be a long

shot, " she said.

" When you're dealing with a competent adult who is able to make up his own

mind, how far can someone intervene? Committing suicide is not a crime. "