Conductor's family escapes assisted suicide prosecution

The children of Sir Edward Downes, the conductor, who died with his wife at the Dignitas clinic last July, will not be prosecuted, the Crown Prosecution Service has announced.

The DPP said there had been sufficient evidence to prosecute Caractacus Downes, the couple's son, but that it was not in the public interest to do so.

It is the first known case of assisted suicide to be assessed under new guidance published earlier this month, which clarified that prosecution will be unlikely where compassion was the driving force behind the actions of the 'suspect', even where he is set to benefit financially from the death of the 'victim'.

Sir Edward had become nearly blind and Lady Joan Downes was suffering from cancer. Caractacus Downes booked a hotel room for his parents and travelled with them to Zurich.

Keir Starmer QC said these acts amounted to unlawful assistance under the Suicide Act 1961.

The DPP considered that both Sir Edward and Lady Downes would have been able to book the hotel room themselves and that this factor was in favour of prosecution.

But looking at the factors against prosecution, Starmer said Mr Downes' parents had reached 'a voluntary, clear, settled and informed decision to take their own lives'.

In assisting his parents, Caractacus Downes had been 'wholly motivated by compassion', the DPP said. 'Even though he stood to gain substantial benefit upon the death of his parents, there is no evidence to indicate that he was motivated by this prospect.'

Starmer also said that booking a hotel room was only an act of 'minor assistance' under the new policy, which would not warrant prosecution. When asked at the time by Solicitors Journal to provide examples of what his services would generally regard as 'minor' for the purposes of the new guidance, Starmer replied that there was 'a wide range of possible actions and that it would not be suitable to provide specific examples'.

The Downes' daughter, Boudicca, joined her brother and parents in Switzerland. Because she is based in Rome, she was not regarded as falling within the geographical scope of the Act.

The police are expected to reach a decision in the case of Dr Irwin, who has paid for the trip of one of his patient, within a fortnight.

In 2007 the former UN doctor paid for Raymond Cutkelvin's flight to Zurich, where the 58-year-old cancer sufferer took his life at the Dignitas clinic.

He has been asked to report to Haringey police station on 6 April.