Man counselled death attempts, Court told

Press, 23 July 1986, Page 8

Man counselled death attempts, Court told

PA Auckland A suicidal woman, aged 64, was advised by Lifeline to approach a Voluntary Euthanasia Society official, Leo Stack, aged 76, who helped her with her death attempt, the District Court at Auckland has been told. Another woman, a member of the Aucklandbased group, aged 70, had April 13 set as her “fatal day” by Stack after attending his counselling sessions, alleged the Crown prosecutor, Mr Peter Kaye. Stack, of Mount Albert, appeared for a pre-trial hearing. He has yet to plead to five charges, including counselling both women to commit suicide, aiding and abetting them in the commission of sui-

cide, and offering to sell the drug Secobarbital to one of the women. The names of both the women named in the charges were suppressed. Mr Kaye said the 64-year-old woman rang the Lifeline telephone counselling service in January because she was depressed and had decided there was little to live for. They suggested she get in touch with Stack, an official of the V.E. group and the manager of the Sailors’ Home in Auckland. On April 28 she took an overdose of 28 sleeping tablets on his advice, but woke the next day. The woman later got in touch with the police, and consented to wearing a concealed tape recorder while meeting Stack on

future occasions, Mr Kaye said. A transcript of the tapes was presented to the Court, but their contents were suppressed. The facts surrounding the attempted suicide of the second woman, aged 70, were similar, Mr Kaye said. She had joined Stack’s group, and took a pill overdose on April 13, later being rushed to Greenlane Hospital. Stack, represented by Mr John Haigh and Ms Coral Shaw, appeared before the Justices of the Peace, Messrs E. A. Wylie and D. R. Chaney. A large crowd wearing Voluntary Euthanasia Society badges, and a reporter from the “Humanist” magazine, filled the small court’s public gallery. (Proceeding)