Black mark on clean life NOT IDEAL OUTCOME A5
Susan Austen had taught Sunday school, and English to refugees, she was a cub leader and a selfless volunteer to many good causes.
Now the wife, mother and grandmother, with her previously clean record, is also a convicted drug importer.
Austen, 67, an ardent supporter of euthanasia, yesterday failed to get the discharge without conviction that she wanted for twice importing the suicide drug pentobarbitone. Instead, she was fined $7500. Her supporters never flagged and surrounded her after the sentencing hearing at the High Court in Wellington.
She was undeterred in her commitment to end-of-life choice but said she would not be importing pentobarbitone again.
Her lawyer said she was the first person in Australasia to be convicted of this in at least 10 years.
The retired school teacher had spent a night in the cells after being found in her car in a public park in the Hutt Valley where she, and a friend in her 80s, were caught wearing rubber gloves as they repackaged pentobarbitone in October 2016.
In February, a jury found her not guilty of aiding the suicide of euthanasia supporter Annemarie Treadwell, 77, and not guilty of repeatedly importing pentobarbitone. However, Austen was deemed guilty of two specific importations.
Austen organised one package to be sent to New Zealand from China after Treadwell’s own importation was intercepted. Treadwell died from pentobarbitone soon after.
The other import Austen brought in herself after a holiday in Hong Kong, the drug packed in with a fascinator headpiece in her luggage.
Austen, careful to emphasise confidentiality to her circle of fellow euthanasia supporters, was undone when Treadwell’s diary was found. It led police to bug her phone and house, and search through her emails. In court, her lawyer, Donald Stevens, QC, said she did not deserve the stigma of a conviction, especially when so many others had not been charged.
It might restrict her voluntary work that included helping at a retirement village and a dementia organisation, as well as involvement with her two grandchildren’s education and activities.
A conviction for drug importation could be expected to curtail her and her 87-year-old husband’s international travel, Stevens said. Both had family overseas and her husband was unable to travel alone. In the past, Austen has been to international Right To Die conferences and might be expected to have more to contribute in future, in light of her recent experience.
The Crown opposed a discharge without conviction for Austen.
Prosecutor Kate Feltham said that unlike others who had imported pentobarbitone, Austen did not want it for her own use, because she already had plenty at her home.
She had done so twice, including a personal importation that involved misleading airport Customs officials.
Justice Susan Thomas agreed with the Crown. She accepted Austen’s genuine desire to help others but said nothing suggested she was qualified to provide a lethal drug. Austen had admitted that she had been ‘‘quite naive’’ about Treadwell’s mental health.
Treadwell was not terminally ill but had arthritis and depression, the judge said. Given Austen’s two importations, it was not surprising she was charged when others were not.
Austen was aware of the law, and the risks, the judge said.
The jury had heard Austen had been a caregiver for her mother for 14 years.
The only legal use for pentobarbitone is veterinary, to euthanise small animals.
Susan Austen, careful to emphasise confidentiality to her circle of fellow euthanasia supporters, was undone when Treadwell’s diary was found.
Through the sliding doors and up three steps to freedom, but it was the outcome that neither Susan Austen nor her ardent supporters wanted.
What they’d wanted at the High Court in Wellington yesterday were discharges without conviction. Instead, what she was sentenced to – on two charges of importing the suicide drug pentobarbitone – were convictions and $7500 in fines. She is yet to decide whether she will appeal.
Outside court, the first sign that this was less than ideal were the grim faces that emerged following sentencing. Then came Austen, out the sliding doors and up the three steps to Molesworth St, a free woman and smiling. It could have been worse, but it could have been better.
She read a statement surrounded by her husband, two sons and a swarm of fans. They were the same supporters who were there when she made her first appearance at Wellington District Court, then moved down the road for the High Court trial.
They became familiar faces – always arriving before Austen to support her, then following her into court, and being sure to be there as she emerged, always smiling, never fazed.
They got better at the game. A dog that was brought along by one supporter early on didn’t make another appearance. The pro-euthanasia banners that were trundled out each time started arriving in plastic bags.
It seemed right that as Austen emerged from the High Court, she made a special effort to thank them all – as well as, of course, her family and lawyer.
She said she had learned her lesson – she wouldn’t be importing drugs again. But she was not giving up the fight.
With a good portion of Wellington’s media crammed around her, she continued to lobby politicians to follow the will of many New Zealanders and allow legal euthanasia – with safeguards – here.
As the crowd disbanded, her husband, Mike Harris – who had been there for the whole, surreal ride – was smiling and said: ‘‘I enjoyed supporting her.’’