A suicide pact gone wrong...the ordeal of a murder trials ..and the hope this drama can change the law

Screenplay based on real-life ordeal

-  ROSALEEN FENTON

A FAMILY hope their assisted dying trauma will be turned into a hit drama that will help to change the law.

When terminally ill Dennis Eccleston, 81, decided he wanted to end his life, his wife Mavis chose to join him in a suicide pact.

But she survived and later stood trial for his murder.

The family hope the filming will win over those who think assisted dying should remain illegal.

Dame Esther Rantzen, who is also campaigning for a law change after being diagnosed with terminal cancer, said: "I pray the power of this drama will persuade lawmakers and the medical profession that criminalising assisted dying is cruel and wrong.

"That is what the vast majority of the public believe." The broadcasting legend, 83, added: "That is the best memorial for Dennis and Mavis.

"And it is a legacy that will provide comfort and protection for generations of terminally ill patients and their families."

After cancer-stricken Dennis told Mavis his plan to end his life when the pain became too much, she replied: "If that's the way you are going then I'm coming too."

Then when the day arrived in 2018, they lay together in their home holding hands after taking 40 sleeping pills.

She said: "Goodnight, darling." And he told her: "God bless."

CLEARED

 

But instead of slipping away peacefully together, they were disturbed by an unplanned visit from their daughter Lynne Eccleston, 64, who called 999.

Dennis had signed a do-not-resuscitate letter and was made comfortable as he died, but Mavis had fallen unconscious before she finished writing her own request not to be revived on her 13-page suicide note, so doctors saved her.