A doctor who was cleared of murdering three of his patients could face a second criminal investigation after admitting that he did hasten the deaths of people in his care.
Police in Durham, England, confirmed on Saturday that they were consulting the Crown Prosecution Service to decide whether there are grounds to reopen the case of Howard Martin. The doctor, who has now retired, told a newspaper that he had acted out of “Christian compassion” when he gave 18 terminally ill and elderly patients what proved to be fatal doses of painkillers.
Martin was struck off by the General Medical Council (GMC) on Friday because of professional misconduct. The body ruled that he was guilty of “egregious, despicable and dangerous conduct.”
Superintendent Paul Unsworth of Durham Constabulary said: “Our immediate concern is the impact [of his comments] on the relatives of these individuals.”
Martin was charged and acquitted of murdering three of his patients in December 2005.
In an interview with the Daily Telegraph, published on Saturday, the doctor admitted that in two of the cases he had hastened the deaths of the patients without permission. He also administered a final injection to his son Paul, 31, when he was dying from cancer in May 1988.
He said he knew his comments carried the risk of a life sentence, but said he wanted to speak out in favor of reform. The system, he claimed, prevented the terminally ill from having the “dignity” of dying at home with their loved ones.
Martin said the patients were about to die and he strove to make them “comfortable.”
“How can a so-called caring society not understand that? How can I be reckless with someone who is about to die?” he said.
There were mixed reactions on Saturday from the relatives of those who died, with some offering their full support and others calling for a police investigation. Albert Cubitt, 88, whose wife Bessie died of lung cancer in 2001, described Martin as an “angel of mercy.”
“I really loved her, she really loved me. We had a very happy relationship,” said Cubitt from his home in Newton Aycliffe, County Durham. “But there were times I looked at her and she couldn’t eat. I thought, ‘Bessie lass, you would be better off dead.’ She was the one that asked. He didn’t ask her, she asked him.”
Cubitt, who said he supported euthanasia for people who were “tortured” with pain, said that his wife told him one day to “send for Martin.”
He said she was “grateful” when the time came.
Asked about a second police investigation, Cubitt was forceful: “Why the hell don’t they drop it. How many times have they had him up? They seem determined to get him.”
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