A DEVOTED husband who admitted carrying out the mercy killing of his terminally ill wife said he was looking forward to moving on with his life after walking free from court.

Donald Mawditt, 72, who admitted giving his wife Maureen, 70, anti-depressants before suffocating her with a carrier bag, left Bristol Crown Court at the end of his trial yesterday after a judge decided that his case was exceptional and a prison sentence would not be appropriate.

Mawditt, a retired nurse from Weston-super-Mare who had been married to his wife for 50 years, had pleaded guilty to manslaughter on the ground of diminished responsibility. He received a three-year conditional discharge. He had initially been accused of murder.

The pensioner, who had cared for his sick wife around the clock, had already prepared for jail and told friends and relatives that he would spend the rest of his life in prison.

He broke down in tears as Judge Thomas Crowther, QC, spared him a custodial sentence. Last night he was being comforted by his family, who described his killing as “an act of love”.

The court was told that the couple had made a pact when they married to end each other’s life if they fell terminally ill.

Mrs Mawditt was in constant pain from haemocromatosis, a condition that causes too much iron in the blood, damaging the liver and pancreas and causing heart failure.

She was told that she had only a 50 per cent chance of living longer than two years. She became incontinent, had difficulty speaking and suffered muscle spasms. She repeatedly begged her husband to help her to die.

At 11.10pm on January 14, Mr Mawditt phoned 999 and said: “I’ve helped my wife kill herself.” When the police arrived at the couple’s home and arrested him on suspicion of murder, he kissed his wife and said: “Goodbye darling.”

The grandfather of four said: “As far as I’m concerned it’s finished. I’m relieved it’s over. I’m not prepared to talk about it any more. I just want to get on with the rest of my life.”

His son-in-law, Nick Ryan, 46, a financial controller, said: “As far as everyone is concerned, it was just an act of love and we just had to have trust in the judicial system.”

Mr Mawditt’s daughter Karen, 45, said: “He did the right thing. I am behind him all the way. It’s what Mum wanted.”

Deborah Annetts, chief executive of the Voluntary Euthanasia Society, called for a change in the law so that people like Mr Mawditt were not forced into taking such drastic action to end the pain and misery suffered by those suffering from terminal illnesses.

“The only way to prevent mercy killing is to listen to the dying wishes of terminally ill people and provide them with a humane and compassionate choice to die well, with proper safeguards, and openly,” she said.

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