A retired NHS manager was arrested and investigated by police for six months after escorting a Cardigan woman to Switzerland for an assisted death.

Sue Lawford, originally from London and now living in Cardiff, says the response to her trip to Zurich-based medical charity, Dignitas, shows the urgent need to reform the UK’s assisted dying laws.

After she returned, she was arrested by Dyfed-Powys Police, put in a cell and held for 19 hours, and then subjected to a six-month police investigation – which she says damaged her mental health.

She chaperoned 60-year-old Sharon Johnston from Cardigan, who became paralysed from the neck down following a fall at her previous home in Aberystwyth.

Sharon spoke publicly about her wish to have an assisted death in 2021 BBC documentary When Would You Want to Die?

Sue says she escorted Sharon to Dignitas to provide emotional and physical support.

“The entire situation caused immense stress and heartache for Sharon on an already difficult journey,” she said.

“It has caused me immense stress and anxiety since our return.

“The BBC had filmed an entire documentary on Sharon, whose decision was as clear as day.

“A change in the law in the UK is long overdue. And it shouldn’t be limited to the terminally ill.

“Sharon’s situation was intolerable, yet could have continued for many years - and there are countless others like her without the means to end their lives on their own terms.”

Sue accompanied Sharon to Switzerland on 14 February and was contacted by Dyfed Powys Police and social services several times during the journey.

When Swiss Police arrived at Dignitas, Sue and Sharon reassured them and they were satisfied there was no illegal activity. They left without taking any action.

Sue says Sharon then had a calm, peaceful death early on the morning of 15 February. She says her last words were: ‘This is a lovely feeling.’

In the early hours of 16 February after she had returned from Switzerland, Sue was awoken by police and arrested for assisting a suicide.

Meanwhile, police officers searched her house for over four hours. They seized her phone, electronic devices, passport, and documents relating to her work.

Sue was kept in a police cell for 16 hours, before being interrogated by Dyfed Powys Police. After over 19 hours in custody, she was released ‘pending investigation’.

The investigation was dropped after six and a half months, due to ‘evidential difficulties.’

Sue says being under arrest for such a long time was detrimental to her mental health.

According to YouGov data, nearly four fifths of people in the UK believe that people who provide practical help to someone to obtain a medically assisted death abroad should not face prosecution.

Humanists UK and My Death, My Decision are founding members of the Assisted Dying Coalition - supporting the right to die for British citizens who are of sound mind.

Swiss law allows the terminally ill or incurably suffering the right to die, unlike in the UK.

Chief executive of Humanists UK Andrew Copson said: “The fact that an upstanding member of her community who specialises in helping others in times of need was subjected to such ill treatment makes it all the more outrageous.

‘People who are terminally or incurably suffering should be able to have a calm, peaceful death on their own terms and in their own country.“

Chair of My Death, My Decision Trevor Moore said: “Sharon’s and Sue’s stories show why our current laws are completely broken.

“The lack of compassion they show in forcing an incurably suffering person to travel abroad for an assisted death, in the most difficult of circumstances, is shameful.”

A Dyfed-Powys Police spokesperson said: “It is a criminal offence in the UK to encourage or assist in the suicide or attempted suicide of another person.

“The circumstances of such cases increase the risk of vulnerable people being exploited and others making financial gain.

“A thorough criminal investigation is required to establish the facts of each case, requiring action to secure evidence that may be lost as time passes and prevent opportunities to dispose of relevant evidence. 

“Following such an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death of Sharon Johnston the matter has been closed.

“The two people who were arrested as part of this investigation have been told they will face no further action.”