A pro-assisted suicide campaigner, who has been accused of publishing material online that has reportedly been linked to the deaths of over 90 people in the United Kingdom, including the suicides of several teenagers, recently held a workshop in London teaching people about suicide methods.
It has been reported that Dr Philip Nitschke, a former GP nicknamed ‘Dr Death’ and inventor of the Sarco suicide machine, recently hosted a workshop in London for 70 people who had travelled there from across the country to learn about how to end their lives.
Nitschke is the director of the radical pro-assisted suicide campaign group Exit International, which provides “information and guidance” on suicide methods to thousands of supporters online. The organisation made headlines recently after it was utilised by Brett Daniel Taylor to procure clients for his ‘End of Life Services’ business, by which he is accused by authorities of illegally supplying lethal drugs to a quadriplegic man so he could end his own life after he had failed to qualify for assisted suicide or euthanasia in Queensland, Australia.
During the London assisted suicide workshop, Nitschke discussed several of his inventions, the purpose of which is to end an individual’s life. The Times describes his latest invention as “a large ‘collar’ worn around the neck that can be used to bring on death”.
Sarco suicide machine
Nitschke’s most notorious invention, the Sarco gas chamber assisted suicide pod, has led to him being currently under investigation by authorities in Switzerland over allegations of illegally assisting suicide.
Nitschke showed workshop attendees never-before-seen footage of the assisted suicide pod in action, screening a real video of the first use of the pod to end a life in Switzerland – that of an American lady, whom the media refers to as Ann. After Ann’s death, Swiss authorities arrested everyone at the scene, including Dr Florian Willet, president of “The Last Resort”, an organisation set up by him and Nitschke to administer the use of the assisted suicide pod in Switzerland. Willet, despite being released with no charge, took his own life soon thereafter.
Despite this controversy, Nitschke revealed at the workshop that a version of the assisted suicide pod designed for couples to use together is currently being built in Holland. Nitschke said there has already been interest in this pod from couples in the UK who wish to end their lives together under the new assisted suicide regime, should it become law.
Nitschke was recently accused of publishing material linked to over 90 deaths in England
Nitschke’s assisted suicide workshop in London comes after he was accused last month of publishing material online that has reportedly been linked to the deaths of over 90 people in the United Kingdom, including the suicides of several teenagers.
Nitschke said he published details of a lethal poison, which he described as offering a “cheap” and “reliable” method of achieving a “peaceful death”, in an online suicide “handbook”.
Nitschke also said that he introduced the poison to Kenneth Law, a former chef who then began selling the poison and who has been linked to more than 90 deaths in the UK. Law is currently awaiting trial on 14 charges of first-degree murder and 14 counts of aiding and counselling suicide.
Nitschke reportedly defended the actions of Law, claiming that he was only providing people with the choice of how to end their lives. “We published Ken Law’s contact details in the [online suicide handbook]”, Nitschke said, telling people that “Amazon don’t sell [the poison] anymore, go to Ken Law – and they did”.
“The information got on to the internet, younger people started to take it and die”, Nitschke said. “Now the parents of younger people who end their lives are understandably very distressed”.
“They were very unhappy about us. They said ‘why did you publish that information?’”. Nitschke defended these actions, saying, “On end of life choices, I say a healthier society is where people know the information and can make informed decisions about how they act”.
Spokesperson for Right To Life UK, Catherine Robinson, said “Nitschke is unashamedly pro-suicide. It is a disgrace that he is even permitted to speak publicly on suicide methods in this country”.
“If assisted suicide were to become legal in England and Wales, legal academics have confirmed that the assisted suicide pods invented by Nitschke could be legal under the assisted suicide Bill with the Health Secretary’s approval. We must never allow the actions of such men to be vindicated, and we must never allow this dangerous Bill to become law”.
