{"id":3253,"date":"2016-10-25T00:27:35","date_gmt":"2016-10-24T15:57:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/exitinternational.net\/?p=3253"},"modified":"2016-10-28T00:33:42","modified_gmt":"2016-10-27T16:03:42","slug":"tom-curran-partner-of-marie-fleming-disappointed-at-inquiry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.euthanasia.net\/exit\/tom-curran-partner-of-marie-fleming-disappointed-at-inquiry\/","title":{"rendered":"Tom Curran, partner of Marie Fleming, disappointed at inquiry"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tom Curran, the partner of late right-to-die campaigner Marie Fleming, has said he is disappointed a Garda investigation is under way into her death.<\/p>\n

Ms Fleming died in 2013 after a long battle with multiple sclerosis, and having unsuccessfully challenged the ban on assisted suicide through the courts.<\/p>\n

Mr Curran told The Irish Times<\/em> he thought \u201cthat everything had just been left\u201d, and had no idea why a Garda investigation had taken so long.<\/p>\n

In early 2013, both the High Court and the Supreme Court rejected Ms Fleming\u2019s challenge to the Criminal Law (Suicide) Act<\/em> of 1993, which decriminalised suicide, but made it a criminal offence to assist another person to take their own life.<\/p>\n

Ms Fleming had argued that, as a severely disabled person unable to take her own life unaided, the law disproportionately infringed her personal autonomy rights under the Constitution<\/em> and the European Convention on Human Rights<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The Supreme Court found there was no constitutional right to die or to be assisted to do so. But it said, there was nothing to prevent the introduction of legislation to deal with cases such as that of Ms Fleming.<\/p>\n

The High Court, in its judgment, had said it was \u201csure\u201d the Director of Public Prosecutions would act in a \u201chumane and sensitive\u201d way in considering whether or not to prosecute any assisted suicide of Ms Fleming.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverybody interpreted that as meaning while we can\u2019t change the law, we will make an exception in this particular case – and I think the whole country interpreted it that way,\u201d Mr Curran said.<\/p>\n

\u2018Great comfort\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cMarie did, it gave Marie great comfort.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said he has not yet been contacted by garda\u00ed, but is aware of the investigation and knows family members have been contacted.<\/p>\n

\"Tom<\/a>

Tom and Marie during the Supreme Court case<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cMaybe they have decided they don\u2019t need to, I don\u2019t know, nobody has told me,\u201d Mr Curran said.<\/p>\n

After the Supreme Court case, Mr Curran had told media he would still be willing to help his partner to die if she wished him to. Earlier this year, he said he was worried over how garda\u00ed would react to an admission of playing a role in assisting with Ms Fleming\u2019s death.<\/p>\n

The sentence for assisted suicide is up to 14 years in jail.<\/p>\n

Last year, Dublin woman Gail O\u2019Rorke was the first person to be prosecuted in Ireland under the assisted suicide legislation.<\/p>\n

She was acquitted of attempting to help Bernadette Forde, who was suffering from multiple sclerosis, to get to the Swiss euthanasia clinic Dignitas – a plan thwarted when a travel agent alerted garda\u00ed.<\/p>\n

She was also acquitted, by direction of the judge, of ordering a lethal dose of barbiturates from Mexico, which were later taken by Ms Forde to end her life on June 5th, 2011.<\/p>\n

\"Gail<\/a>

Gail O’Rorke during her assisted suicide trial in 2015<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tom Curran, the partner of late right-to-die campaigner Marie Fleming, has said he is disappointed a Garda investigation is under way into her death. Ms Fleming died in 2013 after a long battle with multiple sclerosis, and having unsuccessfully challenged the ban on assisted suicide through the courts. Mr Curran told The Irish Times he […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n