Father-of-three calls for dignity in death before taking his own life at assisted suicide centre

A businessman who feared he would be left paralysed by an inoperable tumour growing near his spine has taken his own life at the Dignitas assisted dying centre in Switzerland.

Father-of-three Jeffrey Spector, from Lancashire, died on Friday - six years after he was diagnosed with the disease he said had turned him into a "walking timebomb" - and said he wanted to die with dignity.

The 54-year-old former advertising chief spent his final days creating a film for his family to explain his decision to end his life early.

In an interview released through Dignitas, he said the illness had started to affect his nervous system.

He said he realised he was "going too early" - but said he did not want to risk having an operation, or waiting too long, and being left paralysed and unable to express his wish to end his life.

Mr Spector, from Lytham St Annes, had a last meal with his wife of 23 years Elaine, and their daughters Keleigh, 21, Courtney, 19, and 15-year-old Camryn before checking in to the Swiss centre on Friday.

Friends and family had urged him not to go through with it, but he said he believed it was in their "long-term interests".

It comes after Labour peer Lord Falconer proposed a bill last year which suggested relaxing the law against Assisted Suicide under certain special circumstances.

Currently in the UK, anyone convicted of assisting in a suicide faces up to 14 years in jail.

Full report by Juliet Bremner:

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