A terminally ill man has appeared at court via video link in a wheelchair and wearing an oxygen mask to watch his legal challenge for the right to die.
Noel Conway, 67, a grandfather and retired college lecturer, is challenging the law on assisted dying, which makes it an offence for someone to help another to die.
He was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a form of motor neurone disease, in November 2014 and is not expected to live for more than a year.
Mr Conway, of Shrewsbury, Shropshire, spends 20 hours a day on a ventilation device and says that he feels “entombed”.
He has not been well enough to attend the hearing at the High Court in London, which started on Monday before Lord Justice Sales, Mrs Justice Whipple and Mr Justice Garnham.
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Today Mr Conway attended Telford county court accompanied by his wife, Carol, to watch the case via video link.
Mr Conway was cheered by supporters as he arrived at court. They held placards reading “Give me choice over my death” and “I’m with Noel”.
During the week-long hearing lawyers will seek to persuade the judges that Mr Conway and others like him should have a choice over their own deaths.
Mr Conway has said previously: “I’m going to die anyway. It’s a question of whether I die with or without suffering and on my own terms or not.”
Mr Conway’s legal challenge is being supported by the campaign group Dignity in Dying.
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When he has less than six months to live and retains the mental capacity to make the decision, he wants assistance to bring about a “peaceful and dignified” death.
He is hoping for a declaration that the Suicide Act 1961 is incompatible with Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which relates to respect for private and family life, and Article 14, which protects from discrimination.
Mr Conway had been to the Court of Appeal for permission to bring his challenge over what he calls his “fight for choice at the end of life”.
The case follows that brought by Tony Nicklinson, who was paralysed after a stroke.
Mr Conway’s case differs in that he has a terminal illness. His lawyers are setting out what they claim are clear safeguards to protect the vulnerable from any abuse of the system.
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The Nicklinson case was ultimately dismissed in 2014 by the Supreme Court, which said that parliament should debate whether there should be a change in the law before the courts made any decision.
After debates in the House of Commons and the House of Lords, parliament decided, at least for the moment, not to provide for legislative exceptions to the 1961 act.
A ruling is not expected until October.
