A son who gave his terminally ill father a gun which the elder man used to kill himself while in hospital, is todaypleaded guilty to firearms offences today after escaping prosecution for assisted suicide.
Guy Button, 30, smuggled a second world war Walther PPK handgun and 19 rounds of ammunition into Northampton general hospital last October, where his father, Ian Button, shot himself in view of other patients on a busy ward.
The former music teacher, who was 63 and had been diagnosed with terminal lung cancer, left a suicide note addressed to the police claiming he had brought the gun on to the ward himself after it had been found while clearing his loft.
It read: "I do not see any quality of life and I cannot get any answers. I love my family and I am sorry for what I have done."
A spokeswoman for the Crown Prosecution Service defended its decision not to prosecute Button under the Suicide Act 1961.
In a statement, the CPS spokeswoman said: "While the evidence indicates that Guy Button's father committed suicide with a vintage handgun, which his son had provided for him, there was insufficient evidence to prove that Guy Button had any intention to do acts which he knew to be capable of assisting his father's suicide."
In what Judge Richard Bray called a "very sad case", Northampton crown court today heard that Button's 63-year old wife, Christine, was in a care home and had Alzheimer's.
Alex Bull, prosecuting, said in his police interview, Guy Button had said he believed the gun was decommissioned and that his father wanted to hand both the gun and ammunition to the police, a story the judge dismissed as "incredible and ridiculous".
The judge said: "You do not need me to spell it out to you what could have happened had his father been too frail to use the gun properly. Anything could have happened in a ward. The defendant must have realised that, he is an intelligent man."
Luke Blackburn, defending Button, said his client now admitted he had "misguidedly" given the gun to his father.
Referring to legislation introduced to ensure a minimum sentence of five years in prison for firearms offences, Judge Bray added: "This case has lots of difficulties because legislation removes the discretion of judges."
Outside court, Detective Sergeant Rankin McCarrick said: "This is an extremely unusual case. It's a tragic case because someone has died. It's tragic because Ian Button felt he had to take this course of action. The fact is that it is a firearm and live ammunition in a public place and in particular a hospital. I am just glad it didn't affect other people."
Button, who left court without commenting, will be sentenced at a later date.