Court upholds sentence for man who helped mother, 99, to die
MELBOURNE: The euthanasia debate continues to divide communities and polarise institutions. Now a court has issued a ruling.
An elderly man who helped his 99-year-old mother to die 10 years ago has had his six month suspended jail sentence upheld by the Supreme Court, ending a lengthy legal process.
Albert Heringa (75) was earlier cleared on all charges but the Supreme Court said in March 2017 there should be a retrial because euthanasia carried out by someone other than a doctor must be subject to ‘very strict rules’.
In the subsequent trial, Heringa was sentenced to a six month suspended jail term, which he appealed. That conviction has now been confirmed.
Heringa’s lawyer Tim Vis said that he was disappointed with the ruling. ‘We will consider the verdict carefully and may look at approaching the European court for human rights in Strasburg,’ he said.
Heringa decided to help his mother die when doctors refused her request to administer a lethal dose of medication.
He filmed his mother, who was almost blind and suffering from crippling back pains, as he helped her take the pills that would kill her. She had been secretly storing up the pills for some time.
