Help ‘within the law’ available

Press, 27 November 1986, Page 6

Help ‘within the law’ available

PA Auckland Mr Leo Stack, the man cleared of a charge of helping an elderly woman to attempt suicide, says he will continue to counsel people on taking their own lives — legally. “We will help people within the law," he told the “Auckland Star.” Counselling people on the best ways of committing suicide was not a crime if the person did not attempt to take their own life, he said. “You have to carry out the act,” he said. “We have to speak to people collectively. We will continue to do that.”

Mr Stack, aged 76, secretary of the Auckland Voluntary Euthanasia Society, was acquitted by a jury in the High Court at

Auckland of two charges which carry a maximum penalty of 14 years imprisonment. Mr Stack said he and his group would continue to advise people and recommend to them the book, "Let Me Die Before I Wake.”

The book, referred to by Mr Justice Speight in his summing-up during the trial, outlines the lethal doses of drugs necessary to cause death and recommends relatives tape plastic bags round the dying person’s head to restrict oxygen. It is freely available on loan from the Auckland Public Library and was sold by his group, Mr Stack said. He said the trial had cost him $25,000 in legal expenses.