Jul 14, 2009 - 12:19

British conductor and wife in Swiss suicide

A renowned British conductor and his wife have died at an assisted suicide clinic in Switzerland.

The family said Sir Edward Downes, aged 85, and his 74-year-old wife Joan died "peacefully and under circumstances of their own choosing" at the Dignitas premises in Zurich.

"After 54 happy years together, they decided to end their own lives rather than continue to struggle with serious health problems," said the family statement on Tuesday.

Edward Downes had long associations with the Royal Opera House - where he conducted every season for more than 50 years - and the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, where he became principal conductor and later conductor emeritus. He was knighted in 1991.

Assisted suicide and passive euthanasia is legal in Switzerland and Dignitas handles foreign requests for the service. More than 100 Britons have been helped to die by Dignitas since 1998, including another elderly couple earlier this year.

The Downes case is certain to spark more debate over the practice in Britain, which has the strictest regulations on the matter in Europe.

It is a criminal offence, punishable by up to 14 years' imprisonment, to assist in the death of another person in Britain. However there have been no prosecutions to date of anyone who helped a friend or family member travel to Switzerland to die.

swissinfo.ch and agencies