A woman who is under police investigation after assisting the suicide of her husband at Dignitas in Switzerland has told Sky News she has no regrets.
Louise Shackleton has spoken publicly for the first time since her husband’s death in December, as parliament prepares to vote again on legislation to introduce assisted dying in England and Wales.
Mrs Shackleton surrendered herself to police after returning from Switzerland having seen her husband Anthony die. He had been suffering with motor neurone disease for six years.
“I have committed a crime, which I have admitted to, of assisting him by simply pushing him on to a plane and being with him, which I don’t regret for one moment. He was my husband and I loved him,” she said.
“We talked at length over two years about this. What he said to me on many occasions is ‘look at my options, look at what my options are. I can either go there and I can die peacefully, with grace, without pain, without suffering or I could be laid in a bed not being able to move, not even being able to look at anything unless you move my head’.
“He didn’t have options. What he wanted was nothing more than a good death.”
The law in the UK prohibits people from assisting in the suicide of others, but prosecutions have been rare.
Louise Shackleton has spoken publicly for the first time since her husband Anthony’s death
In a statement, a North Yorkshire Police spokesman told Sky News: “The investigation is ongoing. There is nothing further to add at this stage.”
The next vote on the assisted dying bill for England and Wales has been delayed by three weeks to give MPs time to consider amendments.
The legislation would permit a person who is terminally ill with less than six months to live to legally end their life after approval by two doctors and an expert panel.
‘He was at total peace with his decision’
Mrs Shackleton says she saw her husband “physically and mentally” relax once on the flight to Switzerland.
She said: “We had the most wonderful four days.
“He was laughing. He was at total peace with his decision.
“It was in those four days that I realised that he wanted the peaceful death more than he wanted to suffer and stay with me, which was hard, but that’s how resolute he was in having this peace.
“I was his wife, we’d been together 25 years, we’d known each other since we were 18. I couldn’t do anything else but help him.”
‘We need to safeguard people’
She said the hardest part of the journey came after her husband’s death.
“There was this panic and this fear that I was leaving him,” she said. “That was a horrific experience.
“If the law had changed in this country, I would have been with family, family would have been with us, family would’ve been with him. But as it was, that couldn’t happen.”
Opponents to the assisted dying bill have raised concerns about the safety of vulnerable people and the risk of coercion and a change in attitudes toward the elderly, seriously ill and disabled.
They say improvements to palliative care should be a priority.
“I think that we need to safeguard people,” said Mrs Shackleton. “I think that sometimes we need to suffer other people’s choices, and when I mean suffer I mean we have to acknowledge that whilst we’re not comfortable with those, that we need to respect other people, other people wishes.”
Read more:
Assisted dying: What is in the legislation?
Debate over assisted dying delayed
Anthony, who died aged 59, was a furniture restorer who had earned worldwide recognition for making rocking horses.
“I think the measure of the man is that nobody has ever said a bad word about him in the whole of his life because he was just so caring and giving,” his widow said.
‘This is about a dying person’s choice’
She said she had chosen to speak publicly because of a promise she had made him.
“I felt that my husband’s journey shouldn’t be in vain. We discussed this on our last day and my husband made me promise to tell his story.
“He told me to fight and the simple thing that I’m fighting for is people to have the choice.
“This is about a dying person’s choice to either follow their journey through with disease or to die peacefully when they want to, on their terms, and have a good death. It’s that simple.”
Entertainment
Gossip Girl and Buffy star Michelle Trachtenberg died as a result of complications from diabetes, medical examiner says
Gossip Girl actress Michelle Trachtenberg died as a result of complications from diabetes, New York City’s medical examiner has said.
The 39-year-old, who was also known for Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Harriet the Spy, was found dead at her home in New York City after officers responded to a 911 call on 26 February.
According to a source quoted by Sky News’ US partner network NBC, she had recently received a liver transplant.
At the time of her death, officials said no foul play was suspected, and the medical examiner’s office had listed her death as “undetermined”.
Trachtenberg’s family had objected to a post-mortem, which the medical examiner’s office honoured because there was no evidence of criminality.
But the medical examiner’s office said in a statement on Thursday it amended the cause and manner of death for the actress following a review of laboratory test results.
Trachtenberg was best known for her role as Dawn Summers in Buffy, the younger sister of the title character played by Sarah Michelle Gellar between 2000 and 2003.
Michelle Trachtenberg. Pic: AP
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What you can’t now bring into Britain from EU under new rules
Birmingham bin workers urged to accept ‘fair’ offer
Between 2008 and 2012, she played Georgina Sparks on Gossip Girl – the malevolent rival of Blake Lively’s Serena van der Woodsen and Leighton Meester’s Blair Waldorf.
She also starred in the movie 17 Again, where she portrayed daughter Maggie O’Donnell, comedy film Eurotrip and the 2005 teen film Ice Princess.
In 2001, she received a Daytime Emmy nomination for hosting Discovery’s Truth or Scare.
Luxury is a tough concept to pin down, but being constantly connected to work, kids, and telemarketers ain’t it. Genesis gets it, and its latest ultra-luxe off-road concept ditches screens in favor of the view out the windshield – and it’s got enough off-road chops to promise two things about those views: they’re real, and they’re spectacular!
Genesis calls its new X Gran Equator concept an elegant overlander for the modern explorer that marries on-road sophistication with off-road resilience. Whatever they call it, the 4×4’s dashboard is delightfully free from sweeping touchscreens, mood lighting, and any hint of telephonic integration.
Indeed, the interior looked so much like something from the 90s that I double and triple-checked the date on the press release. But don’t take my word for it, check it for yourself.
It’s fantastic
If you zoom in, you can see screens in the instruments. High-definition roll and pitch displays, altimeters, and probably other outdoorsy, overland-y things that the sort of people who want to do that in what would surely be a very well-appointed six-figure SUV for a similarly very well-heeled buyer.
And that buyer? They wouldn’t miss the screen, because the screen doesn’t matter. The real show is out the front windshield – and if someone from the office calls to interrupt the vibe, you won’t even know. I know I’d pay extra for that … and I can’t imagine I’m alone.
This is how Genesis explains it:
Inside, the X Gran Equator Concept orchestrates contrast between analog architecture and digital technologies, crafting a space that feels both functional and evocative. At the center of the cabin is a four-circle display cluster on the center stack, inspired by the vintage camera dials. The interior design features contrasting colors and shapes, with a preference for geometric over organic elements. The dashboard’s linear architecture and absence of decorations focus the driver’s attention on the journey, while swiveling front seats and modular storage solutions enhance practicality.
Genesis didn’t provide pictures of those swiveling seats or modular storage compartments on this concept, but the X Gran Equator Concept will make its in-person debut April 18th at the Genesis booth during the 2025 New York International Auto Show.
After the show, the company will move the concept to a display at Genesis House New York in the Meatpacking District, where it will stay “in residence” until the end of July. If you’re out that way for either event, take a picture of it and tag Electrek on Instagram!
Genesis X Gran Equator photo gallery
SOURCE | IMAGES: Genesis.
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