Husband who aided suicide will not face trial

A HUSBAND who helped his bedridden wife to kill herself just days before their 40th wedding anniversary will not be prosecuted.

Margaret Bateman spent the final three years of her life in bed, crippled by chronic pain from an undiagnosed condition.

Her family researched suicide techniques on the internet and on October 20 last year her husband Michael helped carry out her final wish using helium gas at their home in Birstall, near Batley.

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Mr Bateman, a self-employed IT consultant, was arrested and questioned on suspicion of aiding and abetting the suicide and has spent the last seven months on bail waiting for the Crown Prosecution Service to decide whether he would be charged.

The CPS announced yesterday that while there was sufficient evidence to charge him with aiding or abetting a suicide it would not be in the public interest to do so.

Bryan Boulter, reviewing lawyer for the CPS Special Crime Division, said: "I concluded that a prosecution would not be in the public interest because Mrs Bateman, who had suffered from chronic pain for decades, had a clear and settled wish to commit suicide. Interviews with Mr Bateman and the couple's sons supported this.

"It was also clear that Mr Bateman was wholly motivated by compassion. He cared deeply for his wife and had taken care of her daily needs for several years.

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"Mr Bateman co-operated fully with the investigation into the suicide and freely admitted assisting Mrs Bateman.

"As such, there was sufficient evidence to charge the offence of aiding or abetting a suicide, but it would not have been in the public interest to do so in the particular circumstances of this case."

Mrs Bateman, who was 62, died at the family home after inhaling helium. Her husband helped by assembling the apparatus but it was Mrs Bateman who turned the valves to start the gas.

Last night Mr Bateman said he was "relieved" by the CPS decision. He wants to see assisted suicide clinics open in the UK, similar to the Dignitas facility in Switzerland.

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His own son, who has terminal cancer, would benefit from such a facility, he said. "He does want to end his life. He is in pain, he can't get out of bed. What can he do? I won't be able to help him."

In November Mr Bateman told the Yorkshire Post that his wife was a "courageous woman who lived in agony for many years".

Right-to-die campaigner Debbie Purdy, from Bradford, said she was delighted by the CPS's decision, but a change in the law was still needed to ensure people in similar situations were

dealt with fairly.

She said: "This was clearly the right decision. It could not have been in the public interest to prosecute him for supporting his wife in her decision. I am so pleased for Mr Bateman and I think he and his family should now be given the peace to grieve the loss of a loved one.

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"But I think the fact there has been this seven-month investigation after his wife had died makes it clear we need a proper law on this. They should not have had to wait so long, and she would not have been sure how her husband would be treated, which must have been horrific for her.

"We need a proper discussion about how these decisions can be made before a person has died, so that everyone knows exactly where they stand."

Sarah Wootton, chief executive of Dignity in Dying, said an assisted dying law was needed.

"A safeguarded assisted dying law, where cases are considered when someone asks for help to die rather than after they have died, would do far more to protect against abuse or coercion."

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