Terminally-ill man loses right-to-die court battle

A terminally-ill man has lost his legal fight "for choice at the end of life".

Noel Conway, a 67-year-old retired lecturer from Shrewsbury, says that he feels "entombed" by his motor neurone disease, which was diagnosed nearly three years ago.

When he has less than six months to live and retains the mental capacity to make the decision, he wishes to be able to enlist assistance from the medical profession to bring about a "peaceful and dignified" death.

The law as it stands means that anyone who helped him would be committing a criminal offence.

Mr Conway, who was not at London's High Court on Thursday, wanted a declaration that the Suicide Act 1961 is incompatible with Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which relates to respect for private and family life, and Article 14, which protects from discrimination.

But Lord Justice Sales, Mrs Justice Whipple and Mr Justice Garnham rejected his case.