Adding to the assisted suicide debate...



A BBC presenter has told TV viewers he carried out a mercy killing on a former lover who was suffering from Aids.

Ray Gosling, 70, revealed he had smothered the unnamed partner as he lay in hospital "in terrible, terrible pain".

Speaking on the BBC East Midlands' Inside Out programme, the broadcaster said: "Maybe this is the time to share a secret that I have kept for quite a long time. I killed someone once... He was a young chap, he'd been my lover and he got Aids."

Strolling through a graveyard for a segment of the show about death, he broke down as he recalled the day he took his lover's life.

He said: "In a hospital one hot afternoon, the doctor said, 'There's nothing we can do', and he was in terrible, terrible pain. I said to the doctor, 'Leave me just for a bit' and he went away.

"I picked up the pillow and smothered him until he was dead. The doctor came back and I said, 'He's gone'. Nothing more was ever said."

Gosling, a freelance broadcaster of hundreds of radio and TV documentaries, said he had no regrets about his actions, adding: "When you love someone, it is difficult to see them suffer. We'd got an agreement, if it got worse, the pain, and nobody could do anything. He was in terrible pain, I was there and I saw it. It breaks you into pieces."

But he admitted: "My feelings on euthanasia are like jelly - they wobble about."

The presenter said he realised police may want to question him over the revelation. Aiding or abetting another person's death is illegal in England and Wales under the 1961 Suicide Act, and is punishable by up to 14 years in jail.

A BBC spokeswoman said: "We take considerable care to reflect all sides of the debate." She said police had not contacted the corporation. "If and when they do, we will co-operate fully," she added.

Gosling has been arrested.


TV presenter Ray Gosling has been arrested on suspicion of murder by Nottinghamshire Police after he admitted killing his lover.

The 70-year-old's confession that he had smothered the unnamed man who was dying of Aids was broadcast on the BBC's Inside Out programme on Monday.

The Nottingham filmmaker said he had made a pact with his lover to act if his suffering increased.

Police are questioning the presenter over his claims.

A police spokesman said: "A 70-year-old Nottingham man was arrested earlier on suspicion of murder following comments made on the BBC's Inside Out programme on Monday evening."

It's a terrible situation. I loved him to bits
Ray Gosling

Mr Gosling has previously said he would not name his lover or say when the incident took place.

In the BBC East Midlands programme, broadcast on Monday, he told how he smothered the man with a pillow while he was in hospital after doctors told him that there was nothing further that could be done for him.

Mr Gosling did not name either his lover or the hospital.

He said: "I said to the doctor: 'Leave me… just for a bit,' and he went away.

"I picked up the pillow and smothered him until he was dead.

"The doctor came back and I said: 'He's gone.' Nothing more was ever said.

"When you love someone, it is difficult to see them suffer."

Mr Gosling said he was aware of the possible consequences and had no regrets.

He said: "It's a terrible situation. I loved him to bits.

"We had a pact - he said if the pain gets bad and if nothing can be done, don't let him linger on.

"I don't think it's a crime."

Assisted suicide remains a criminal offence, but interim guidelines issued in September by the director of public prosecutions set out the factors which weigh in favour of and against prosecution.

wow...

Only God should decide when people die.

more religious people should be against the death penalty, on a side note.

More conservatives should be against government bans on euthanasia.

most conservatives aren't libertarians though

They love to harp about small government.

Or Santa Claus, The Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy...all the same to me.

states rights, except for the things we care about

that's something my pols prof said, or a paraphrase of it. he may have been paraphrasing someone else, can't remember.

No thinking person sincerely believes in any of those things.

that movie with the rock in it is based on a true story!

It would be silly to compare the Christian God to any of those things, is the point. There is much more evidence.

If God has to decide when someone should die, that would imply that God has something remaining to do which he has not already done, which would imply that God is not perfect. Therefore, God exists.

is there a movie with duane johnson about g*d? i dont think so

So then there are no such things as miracles?

God is perfect. Therefore, miracles exist. Therefore, God exists.

But how could miracles exist if God when already decided everything? That would mean He has "something remaining to do which he has not already done"?

Basically, why does God have to fix his bullshit?

i got poop said merge!!!!!!!!!!!!!