More than 40 people have committed suicide since new guidelines for prosecuting people who helped them were issued by the Crown Prosecution Service.

More than 40 people have committed suicide since new guidelines for prosecuting people who helped them were issued by the Crown Prosecution Service. Since 2009, UK police have handed 44 cases to the CPS. Assisted suicide is still a crime punishable by 14 years’ jail but Director of Public Prosecutions, Keir Starmer indicated in 2010 that people would not be charged unless coercion or profit was involved.

This official tally is the first evidence of the extent of assisted suicide in Britain. Some journalists and euthanasia opponents say that inaction by the CPS means that it has been legalised by stealth. Since the guidelines were published, no-one has been prosecuted for assisting suicide, although a handful of cases are still under review. Mr Starmer acknowledges that assisted suicide seems to be on the rise.

“There have been more cases – not a huge explosion but more than happened before,” he said. “I think one of the reasons that there have been more cases since the assisted suicide guidance came out is that people feel more confident to come forward and say what they’ve done because they’ve got a degree of clarity about what might happen to them.” ~ London Telegraph, Sep 3

44 assisted suicides in UK since CPS guidelines published
Jared Yee
assisted suicide
suicide
UK