Viewers back broadcast of suicide film as Brown says it is 'a matter of conscience'

Viewers of the "assisted suicide film" which shows a terminally ill man dying have come out in support of it.



The Sky documentary, which sparked anger among anti-euthanasia campaigners, was the first time a suicide has been shown on British television.



Despite a public outcry over the film, audience members left messages of support on the website of the broadcaster's Real Lives channel.



One said: "It was a privilege to watch Craig go with dignity and my heart goes out to his family and friends."



But regulator Ofcom was today bracing itself for complaints about the film, which showed motor neurone disease sufferer Craig Ewert, 59, dying in a Swiss assisted suicide clinic.



A "handful" of people contacted the regulator before the broadcast but it could not take complaints until after the film was aired.



The end: This is the moment Mary bids farewell to her husband Craig Ewert as he slips away into unconsciousness at the Dignitas clinic in Switzerland

A spokesman for Sky Real Lives could not comment on the number of complaints it has received.



One viewer wrote on the Sky Real Lives website: "I have just had the privilege to watch the wonderfully moving documentary about Craig Ewert's life and death. Why, oh why can't the so called 'do gooders' see that there is a definite need for a shift in opinion over a person's right to die?"



Another viewer said: "It was only after seeing the programme tonight that I realise the enormous amount of courage and understanding required to make such an extraordinary leap.



"I truly feel my life has been enriched by this documentary and I would love to thank the Ewert family for allowing and sharing such an amazing and frightening moment." An Ofcom spokeswoman said today: "UK broadcasters must adhere to the broadcasting code, which sets standards for the content of TV programmes, and we assess all complaints against the code."



Ofcom will consider whether the code's provisions on "harm and offence" have been breached. It states that "methods of suicide and self-harm must not be included in programmes except where they are editorially justified and are also justified by the context".



No return: Craig Ewert is dying a quick and painless death as Mary reaches out to touch him



It could impose a fine on Sky of up to £250,000, and may also direct Sky to broadcast an apology.



Mr Ewert paid Swiss euthanasia group Dignitas £3,000 to arrange his death. In last night's documentary he was seen turning off his ventilator with his mouth and drinking a lethal dose of drugs through a straw. He died 45 minutes later with his wife of 37 years by his side.



Phyllis Bowman, of Right to Life, said: "What kind of effect do they think this will have on a depressive? It undermines the vulnerable and it undermines people's right to life."

But Gordon Brown has said that helping someone to commit suicide was a matter of conscience.



His comments followed a decision by the Director of Public Prosecutions not to prosecute anyone over the assisted death of paralysed rugby player Daniel James.



Tearful goodbye: Although knowing for many years that her husband wanted an assisted suicide, Mary is overcome by emotions at the reality that she will not see Craig again



Responding in the Commons to an outcry over the televised suicide of motor neurone disease sufferer Craig Ewert, the Prime Minister condemned the idea of a law to allow assisted suicide.

But critics fear his belief that aiding suicide is a matter for individuals, combined with a refusal to press charges over Mr James’s death by DPP Keir Starmer QC, indicates that no one will now be prosecuted for taking a relative or friend to kill themselves at the Dignitas suicide clinic in Switzerland, unless they gain from their actions.



It appeared to seal the reluctance by courts and prosecutors to act against Dignitas and those who use the right to commit suicide given by Swiss law.

Anyone found guilty of aiding or abetting someone in arranging their own death in Britain can be jailed for 14 years under the 1961 Suicide Act.



Debate: Gordon Brown during Prime Minister's Questions at the House of Commons today

But even though Mr Starmer said there was evidence to convict Daniel’s parents and a family friend, there was no public interest when no one had tried to persuade the 23-year-old to die.



His parents paid Dignitas and travelled with Daniel to Zurich, while the friend booked the family’s flights.



But Mr James’s family had begged the sportsman, who was left paralysed after a rugby accident, to reconsider taking his own life until the last minute.



During clashes in the Commons over the televised death of Mr Ewert at the same clinic, Mr Brown appealed for compassion for families agonising over the suffering of a loved one.



The death in September 2006 of Mr Ewert, 59, an American former university professor, was shown on a Sky documentary channel on Wednesday night.



The Prime Minister was asked if the broadcast of an assisted death was in the public interest or whether it was distasteful voyeurism.



He said: ‘We should all remember, at the heart of any individual case are families and people in difficult circumstances who have to make difficult choices. None of us would want to go through that.



‘I believe it is a matter of conscience. It is necessary to ensure there is never a case

where a sick or elderly person feels under pressure to agree to an assisted death or somehow feels it is expected. That is why I have always opposed legislation for assisted deaths.’

Craig Ewert switches off his ventilator to begin the suicide process

The end: A doctor checks Mr Ewert's pulse

The shift towards allowing assisted suicide was condemned by campaigners.



Phyllis Bowman, of Right to Life, said: ‘What kind of effect do they think this will have on a depressive? It undermines the vulnerable and it undermines people’s right to life.’



Phil Willis, Liberal Democrat MP for Harrogate where Mr Ewert lived, said the film was

trying to ‘promote assisted suicide’ and should not be shown.

Dr Peter Saunders, of the group Care Not Killing, said: ‘There is a growing appetite

from the British public for increasingly bizarre reality shows. It is a slippery slope.’

Mr Ewert's wife Mary held her husband's hand as he passed away less than 45 minutes after drinking a lethal dose of sedatives and setting a timer to switch off his ventilator

There was also growing pressure on Sky, which said its programme was meant to 'inform public debate about even the most challenging subjects.'

OFCOM earlier said it had received complaints but it could not act on them until after the programme has been broadcast.

But Joan Bakewell, the Government’s champion for the elderly, said: ‘There is nothing

frivolous about this and there is nothing that everyone who is alive cannot envisage and think about and many people are anxious and worried. This film might allay their worries.’



Mr and Mrs Ewert in happier times. Footage of Mr Ewert's death will be the first time an assisted suicide has been shown on UK television

Mr Ewert’s wife Mary yesterday revealed that he had battled feelings of depression.

She told Sky News: ‘He at times felt depressed – and who would not, facing that fact that you had an incurable disease and there was absolutely nothing that could be done and, on top of it, the demise could be quite slow and quite uncomfortable?

‘Many people would react to that with a sense of sadness, but that wasn’t pervasive in his approach. I think he had the idea all along that he could choose not to do this even

when he arrived at Dignitas.’













Suicide: Daniel James with his parents Mark and Julie. He killed himself in September after being paralysed from the chest down in a rugby accident

She added that her husband had discussed the possibility of assisted suicide for more than 30 years before he opted to go through with a decision that was ‘part of his make-up’.



A poll showed yesterday that 47 per cent of Britons would like to end their life when they ‘feel it’s time’, while 31 per cent disagreed in the Ipsos Morisurvey of 2,019 people.

More than 100 people are claimed to have ended their lives at the Dignitas clinic.

However, despite police investigations in some case, no prosecutions have followed.

Mr Ewert explains his decision to visit the assisted suicide clinic earlier in the documentary, The Suicide Tourist

Four years ago a High Court judge made it possible for an unnamed 65-year-old terminally ill woman to kill herself by lifting an injunction that had prevented her husband from travelling with her to Switzerland.

The law is, however, used in cases where there are suspicions that someone may have procured a suicide out of self-interest.

A recent case was that of prison officer Patricia Mulpeter, who encouraged her dying lesbian lover to commit suicide by suffocation after the couple had spent a £10,000 bank loan travelling around the West Country together.

A charge of murder was dropped, and a judge said she deserved compassion. Miss Mulpeter was given a 28 day suspended sentence for assisting suicide in July.

The Dignitas clinic: Switzerland is the only country in the world where assisted suicide is legal