British broadcaster who confessed on TV to mercy killing of sick lover released by police

UK reporter who said he killed sick lover on bail

LONDON — Police released a veteran British TV reporter on bail Thursday after he was arrested and questioned about claims he made on the air that he killed his lover who was dying of AIDS.

Ray Gosling drew media — and police — attention this week when he revealed on a BBC TV documentary that he used a pillow to smother his dying lover in his hospital bed to end his suffering. He did not give the name of the man, or say where or when the incident took place.

The 70-year-old journalist was released on bail from a police station in Nottingham after he was questioned on suspicion of murder for a day and a half, his lawyer Digby Johnson said.

Gosling said during the TV show that he and the unidentified man had made a pact on what to do should the pain of the AIDS victim become intolerable and nothing more could be done. Gosling said he believed he had made the right decision and had no regrets.

Johnson said police would now go through the information provided by Gosling in detail.

“Ray is really shattered. He is delighted to be out,” Johnson told reporters. “He provided the police with a lot of information and they have now got to sift through that.”

Under British law, assisting a suicide is punishable by up to 14 years in prison, but courts have become reluctant to convict people who help seriously handicapped or terminally ill loved ones end their lives.

Last year, government prosecutors were forced to explain under what circumstances they would file charges against those who help others kill themselves.