Harsh judgment was only option

IAN Gordon killed his wife, there is no getting away from that fact.

But this was no ordinary homicide – it was, as his family agree, a final act of love.

Gordon’s wife Patricia was in pain, she was suffering, and they had agreed a “death pact”.

Family members and a doctor told the court Gordon was a devoted husband and ended her life through compassion, not malice.

The difficulty of this trial goes beyond legal scrutiny and deep into moral argument.

It’s not the first time loved ones of desperately ill people have broken the law to help end a life. Neither will it be the last.

Holyrood has twice rejected the idea of allowing assisted suicide in Scotland.

The late MSP Margo MacDonald drew on her own experience of illness to make a passionate case for such a law.

MSPs, in turning down the proposals, were out of step with public opinion, polls suggest.

In the end, they could not impose a legal framework on something that transcends normal day-to-day politics.

Presented with Patricia’s death, however, the police and the courts have no option but to be guided by the law.

The judge felt compelled to jail Gordon for his actions. Given the legal position, he probably had no choice.

Does society gain from sending a grieving widower to prison? Does Patricia?

The answer to both those questions is clearly a resounding no. But it’s more difficult to determine what the alternative should be.