Suicide Pact Husband Given Suspended Sentence

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Suicide pact husband spared jail

Brian Blackburn admitted killing his terminally ill wife in a suicide pact
A retired policeman who killed his terminally ill wife and then tried to kill himself has been spared jail.
Brian Blackburn, 62, from Ash in Surrey, was given a suspended nine month sentence at the Old Bailey, after pleading guilty to manslaughter.

He admitted entering into a suicide pact with his wife, Margaret, also 62, who was dying of stomach cancer.

Judge Richard Hawkins said he had acted as a "loving husband" but that taking a life was a serious matter.


He said former nurse Mrs Blackburn had had only weeks to live and had asked her husband to cut her wrists "as the last loving thing you could do for her".

My wife did not want to die slowly in hospital. I did what she asked me to do

Brian Blackburn


Wife 'begged' for help

The court was told Blackburn went on to cut his own wrists in an identical way but his blood congealed and he rang police when he did not die.

A post-mortem examination on Mrs Blackburn had shown she had a 3kg (about 6lbs 8oz) tumour in her stomach.


She did not seek medical help because she had worked in a hospice and had an abhorrence of surgery.

"My wife did not want to die slowly in hospital. I did what she asked me to do," Blackburn had told the court.

"I failed myself and will now have to pay the price."


Margaret Blackburn was terminally ill when her husband cut her wrists

Blackburn said that as his wife's condition worsened, she had kept asking him to do something.

"I told her I could not. She said it was the most loving thing I could do for her."

He said he had put his arms around her for 20 minutes as she died.

'Exceptional case'

Judge Hawkins said there had been exceptional circumstances in the case but warned that taking someone else's life was a serious matter.

However he told Blackburn: "I am not going to send you to prison."

Blackburn, a Hampshire Police officer for 20 years, married his wife in 1998 and the killing took place on 15 October last year.

Mrs Blackburn's sons, Colin and Martin Lawrence, wrote to the judge pleading for mercy.

The circumstances in which he found himself were a tragic episode

Rebecca Shortt,
Brian Blackburn's solicitor


Call for law change

They told him: "The act that Dad undertook was totally unselfish and we have no bad feelings whatsoever."

Blackburn, who has spent three months in prison since his arrest, was greeted by friends and family as he left the court.

His solicitor Rebecca Shortt said: "My client is delighted with the outcome.

"The circumstances in which he found himself were a tragic episode."

The Lawrence brothers said they were relieved Blackburn had been released and that they would "help him through these difficult times".

The Voluntary Euthanasia Society called for an urgent change in the law in the wake of the case.

A private member's bill, Assisted Dying for the Terminally Ill, has been submitted to Parliament by Lord Joffe.

Chief executive Deborah Annetts said that if it had been law, Mrs Blackburn would have had a gentle and dignified death.

"Mr Blackburn would not have had to end her life, then face a lengthy and traumatic police investigation and trial," she said.


The biggest scandal about this case is that this man was remanded in custody . It is a disgrace that he was not bailed
 
Did the CPS ask that he be remanded in custody? Was he considered a danger to the public? Perhaps one argument could be that he was a danger to himself with one attempted suicide behind him, but that is not enough, in my opinion, to remand him in custody.

There is so much wrong at times.
 
I think ADTI Bill would be a wonderful option for people who find they are approaching the point of no return with severe illnesses, or are so very handicapped they feel they have no quality of life. There have been so many cases like this, worldwide, that surely the time has come for humans to grow up, stop sentimentalizing our dying, and accord ourselves the kindness in transition from life to death that we give to our beloved pets?

Properly worked, the ADTI Bill would not be an open book to murder our nearest and not dearest for gain. That happens anyway! I find the so-called Pro-Life Alliance abhorrent even in its' name, since one would love to be 'pro' or 'for' life if one had the chance - to suggest to someone dying agonizingly and slowly, or confined to full-time care and total inability that they should be 'for' life, strikes me as far from caring or sensitive to their needs.

Yes, you're right, Ardross. That this unfortunate man (who looks absolutely wrecked beyond his mere 62 years, I thought) was incarcerated for three months was pathetic. I suppose that's what happens when you admit to taking your wife's life, though, however much it was at her own behest.
 
I know it's a very contentious issue for many people, Colin, and there are naturally many who feel they could never assist anyone, under any circumstances, to die. Well, they don't have to. The Bill would, though, provide for those people who DO feel it's their right to manage their exit from suffering, and for those who feel it's equally right for them to be with them and help them achieve this last request. In that, I can't see any cold-bloodedness, in fact, the opposite.

I've thought about how I would deal with being terminally ill, and I'm pretty sure I'll go for self-despatch. I'd hope not to bog it up, though that's a potential problem for the unassisted. It would also be so nice to be able to say one's goodbyes in advance to friends and family, without the fear that one of them might try to do the 'decent' thing and stop me! It's really all about respecting a person's wishes while they're in a position to think these things out, not about wilfully despatching anyone who's lingering a bit too long for the family's convenience.
 
Much as I agree with the sentiments of the earlier posters I am still a little uneasy about legalising euthanasia. In my very limited experience I have come across two people all too ready to assist someone who did not want to go. Money.!!

Still can't get over saying thank you to the doctor who effectively ended my dad's life.(No money involved ). But having seen the dark side I wonder whether any laws can properly protect the old and seriously ill.
I like to think that I would be able to decide if it was best to go and then take the appropriate action but since I think that this is all there is I feel there is a strong possibility that I would be reluctant to do so if or when the the situation arose.

As an aside I am cynical enough to think of failed suicide attempts as an oxymoron.
Well I think thats what I mean. If you really try you don't fail.
 
There are lots of viewpoints, Tout, as with any issue that's presenting itself more and more publicly, but is illegal - as was the case with homosexuality, and abortion.

I don't think that legislation will give rise to significantly more cases of vulnerable people being hastened to their deaths by the venal. The main issues are to make clear your intentions about your situation when you can still think clearly - back in 1986, when I made my Will, I tried to get a euthanasia clause inserted, in case I ended up in a persistent vegetative state. I felt it would be terribly wrong to take up others' badly-needed medical attention and space, and the energy of family, if I was deemed to be, basically, no more than a circulating pump. I couldn't get that done at the time, but the next best thing my solicitor could offer (which is in the Will) was that I instructed no special resuscitative or 'life'-extending treatments to be employed in such an instance.

I'm sure this is all there is, too, not being an adherent of reincarnation, but I don't want to burden friends and family with someone who isn't the person they used to know, and never will be again, lying in a bed for possibly months. I don't see 'time's up!' as being the end of a long, long eon of misery - better to be enabled to drift away before then.

As far as killing yourself is concerned, though, you've got to be physically able to carry out your desire. You were probably referring to the husband in the case of the 'failed' suicide, but unless you've got some degree of mobility, doing away with yourself isn't always feasible, especially with the well-meaning denying you access to the required materials! That's why the euthanasia clause would be so very helpful: you are only being ASSISTED to go, as in Belgium and Switzerland. That prevents these traumatic court cases happening, where desperately ill or handicapped people, without the mobility to despatch themselves, have begged the courts to be allowed to die - and been denied.
 
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