Widow has ‘no regrets’ over assisted suicide of husband despite ‘ongoing’ police investigation
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.”
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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.”
A woman accused of stalking the parents of Madeleine McCann allegedly left voicemails asking the mother of the missing girl for a DNA test, a court heard.
Jurors heard voicemails left by Julia Wandelt, 24, from Lubin, Poland, in which she was audibly upset.
She allegedly left the messages last year, over a period of months, and at one point asked: “What if I’m her?”
Co-defendant Karen Spragg, 61, began crying today at Leicester Crown Court and had to leave the dock when the voicemails were played.
Wandelt, whose head was down while jurors were listening, was heard saying: “I know you probably think Madeleine‘s dead. Well she is not. I really believe I’m her.
“Help me. Don’t think Madeleine is dead. This is a chance. Please, I beg you. The police don’t want to help me, they don’t want to help Madeleine. It’s all corrupt.
“I promise you that I will prove who I am because I know you love Madeleine.”
In another message, she said: “You probably believe Madeleine is not alive anymore.
Madeleine McCann went missing during a family holiday to Portugal in 2007. Pic: PA
“What if I am her? What if there’s a small chance that I’m her?”
Jurors also heard that, one night, Wandelt sent a message to Mrs McCann at 1am, saying: “I don’t understand why you don’t want to do a DNA test.”
Prosecutors allege that Wandelt, a Polish national, falsely claimed she was Madeleine while stalking parents Kate and Gerry McCann by sending emails, making calls and turning up at their address between June 2022 and February this year.
The court previously heard that Wandelt called and messaged Mrs McCann more than 60 times in a single day in April last year. This included alleged memories of Madeleine’s abduction.
Madeleine went missing during a family holiday to Praia da Luz in Portugal, in May 2007.
Wandelt and Spragg, of Caerau Court Road in Caerau, Cardiff, both deny one count of stalking.
The trial continues.
UK
Tommy Robinson refused to give phone pin to police as he drove his Bentley to Benidorm, court hears
Tommy Robinson refused to hand over his phone pin when police stopped his Bentley on the way to Benidorm, a court has heard.
He allegedly told officers “Not a chance, bruv” and said he was a journalist when they pulled him aside at the Channel Tunnel at Folkestone in July 2024.
Robinson, real name Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, is accused of “frustrating” counter-terrorism powers by refusing to give access to the phone.
He denies the charge.
The right-wing political activist was flanked by security guards as he arrived at Westminster Magistrates Court for the opening of the trial on Monday.
The 42-year-old faces three months in prison and/or a £2,500 fine if found guilty.
Robinson had £13,000 and 1,900 euros on him when he was stopped and told police he was going to Benidorm in Spain for a few days, said prosecutor Jo Morris.
He allegedly refused to give the pin as he claimed the phone had sensitive “journalist material” on it.
He’s said to have told police: “It’s my work, I’m a journalist,” claiming it contained information about “vulnerable girls”.
The court heard Robinson was stopped in his silver Bentley SUV because he gave “short, vague replies” about what he was doing and “made no eye contact”.
PC Mitchell Thorogood told the court it was also “unusual” he bought tickets on the day rather than in advance and was in an expensive car not registered in his name.
Pic: PA
When police took Robinson into an interview room and demanded his phone, he allegedly told them: “Not a chance bruv… you look like a c*** so you ain’t having it.”
Officers said they recognised Robinson when they stopped him and his lawyer, Alisdair Williamson KC, suggested the stop may have been “discriminatory” against his political beliefs.
Police can stop anyone at a UK port and hold them for six hours if they suspect they may be involved in planning or committing acts of terrorism.
They are legally obliged to answer questions and must give access to their electronic devices or face a criminal charge.
In a video on X before the hearing, Robinson said Elon Musk had “picked up the legal bill” for “this absolute state persecution”.
The case comes a month after Robinson led a huge rally in central London under the banner ‘Unite the Kingdom’.
The trial continues.
Steve Witkoff, the US special envoy to the Middle East, has claimed the UK played a “vital role” in helping negotiate the Gaza peace deal, smoothing over a potential diplomatic row between London and Washington.
Witkoff took to X on Monday, ahead of meeting President Donald Trump in Israel, to praise the UK.
“I would like to acknowledge the vital role of the United Kingdom in assisting and coordinating efforts that have led us to this historic day in Israel,” Witkoff wrote.
“In particular, I want to recognise the incredible input and tireless efforts of National Security Advisor Jonathan Powell.”
His comments came 24 hours after education secretary Bridget Phillipson was branded “delusional” by Mike Huckabee, the US ambassador to Israel, for claiming that Sir Keir Starmer’s presence at a signing ceremony for today’s ceasefire deal in Egypt “demonstrates the key role that we [Britain] have played”.
The minister made her remarks on Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips but did not say exactly what the UK’s role in the ceasefire, largely attributed to Donald Trump, is or was.
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Phillipson added: “We have played a key role behind the scenes in shaping this.
“It’s right that we do so because it’s in all of our interest, including our own national interest, that we move to a lasting peace in the region.
“These are complex matters of diplomacy that we are involved in. But we do welcome and recognise the critical role that the American government played in moving us to this point.”
Her comments prompted Mr Huckabee to repost the Sky News clip on social media, claiming: “I assure you she’s delusional.”
He added: “She can thank Donald Trump anytime just to set the record straight.”
Mr Huckabee was part of the negotiating team for the peace deal, with Mr Trump calling the former Arkansas governor “AMAZING” as he said he “worked so hard, and did so much, to bring about peace in the Middle East”.
In August, Mr Huckabee said the UK and other European nations that said they would declare a Palestinian state were “having the counterproductive effect that they probably think that they want”.
Israel: UK did not play key role in peace deal
Israel’s deputy foreign affairs minister, Sharren Haskell backed Huckabee, telling Sky News the UK played “the opposite” of a key role in the peace deal after recognising the Palestinian state.
“The message that the UK government has sent Hamas was the message that: the longer they continue this war, they will be rewarded.
“I mean, you must understand that when a terrorist organisation is thanking you. You are on the wrong side of history.”
It is understood the prime minister has underlined Mr Trump’s key role in securing this deal throughout the process. Publicly, he praised Mr Trump twice in his press conference in India on Thursday.
Read more:
Gaza latest: Hostages Square boos Netanyahu
Hamas official thanks Donald Trump for ceasefire deal
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Final preparations for hostages in Israeli hospital
Ms Phillipson stood by the September decision to declare a Palestinian state, saying it was “the right thing to do”.
Husam Zomlot, the Palestinian ambassador to the UK, told Sky News it was a “moment of leadership” for the UK to declare a Palestinian state, and a “responsibility to begin to correct a century of the gravest historic injustices committed against our people”.
He added: “That moment three weeks ago, when the UK did recognise, is a moment when we can say that the wheels of history are turning in a different direction.”
No plans for British troops on the ground
The education secretary also told Sky News the government has “no plans” to put British troops into Israel or Gaza as part of a stabilisation force after the ceasefire.
The US military will help establish a multinational force in Israel, known as a civil-military coordination centre, which is likely to include troops from Egypt, Qatar, Turkey and the UAE.
Tens of thousands of Palestinians have walked back to Khan Younis in southern Gaza. Pic: AP
On Friday, US officials said up to 200 US troops already based in the Middle East will be moved to Israel to help monitor the ceasefire in Gaza.
The day before, President Trump announced Israel and Hamas had “signed off on the first phase” of a peace plan he unveiled last week.
Pic: Reuters
Aid trucks have been gathering in Egypt to cross into Gaza after months of warnings by aid groups of famine in parts of the territory.
In Israel, the remaining hostages are due to be returned from Gaza by Hamas on Monday under the first phase of the peace plan. Twenty are believed to still be alive, 26 have been declared dead, while the fate of two is unknown.
The ceasefire agreement has been made two years after Hamas stormed Israel on 7 October 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages.
Israel’s military offensive has killed more than 67,000 Palestinians in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, which the UN deems reliable.
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