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Creator of “suicide capsule” seeks to legalize it in Britain after euthanasia vote

21 June 2025 , 16:53
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Creator of “suicide capsule” seeks to legalize it in Britain after euthanasia vote
Creator of “suicide capsule” seeks to legalize it in Britain after euthanasia vote

The inventor of the controversial Sarco "suicide pod" has pledged to bring the device to the UK, despite ongoing scrutiny linked to the alleged murder of a woman.

The move follows a landmark assisted dying bill narrowly passed by MPs in a critical vote on Friday.

Man inspecting the interior of a purple and white reclining pod. qhiukiqrihuprwThe Sarco’s inventor Philip Nitschke enters the pod in a demonstrationCredit: AP

Terminally ill adults are set to be given the legal right to end their lives.

The decision paves the way for the biggest shake-up in end-of-life care in decades after weeks of furious lobbying on both sides.

The Bill now moves to the House of Lords for further scrutiny before it can become law.

If passed, it would mean adults in England and Wales with fewer than six months to live will be allowed to apply for a medically assisted death, under strict safeguards.

Dr Philip Nitschke, who invented the bizarre-looking Sacro pod used in assisted dying, said he hoped to use the device in the UK.

It is a human-sized pod which replaces the oxygen inside it with nitrogen, causing death by hypoxia.

Dubbed the "Tesla of euthanasia", it is self-operated by a button on the inside, providing death without medical supervision.

A camera inside records their final moments, and the video is handed to a coroner.

The Times reports Dr Nitschke has said: “As soon as we know that the final legislation is in place, we’ll start enthusiastically pursuing the option of using the device in the UK.

“We’ll be looking to find UK-registered doctors to assist, and of course, someone who wants to use it and satisfies all of the requirements under the law.

"The doctors involved would know that this would attract attention and possible close scrutiny, which by and large most doctors aren’t enthusiastic about, so we’d have to find someone who’s a little crusading.”

Dr Nitschke invented the Sarco in 2012.

Last year, he developed a double pod that could be used by a couple who wish to die together.

He said: “If we were able to make use of the device available in the UK, there would be quite a few more applications, I imagine, because people want to die in their own home, or more importantly, be able to take the Sarco to some nice place in the UK rather than having to try and go to some strange country.”

The suicide pod activist started the process of assisted dying using the pod last year with The Last Resort organisation - an assisted dying group based in Switzerland.

However, the pod became the centre of an alleged murder investigation after the first woman to die inside it was allegedly found with strangulation marks on her neck.

The anonymous woman, 64 and identified as an American citizen, died last year inside the controversial capsule set up in a forest in Switzerland.

The woman is said to have initiated the dying process herself by pressing a button while lying in the pod in the middle of the forest.

However, a forensic expert who checked her body shortly after she died found injuries near her neck that appeared similar to strangulation marks.

The American woman was reportedly terminally ill and had been dying for two years.

She was diagnosed with Osteomyelitis - a disease that could have manifested the alleged injury marks on her neck - according to Dutch media.

But her death raised a host of legal and ethical questions in Switzerland, where active euthanasia is banned but assisted dying has been legal for decades.

Cops took several people into custody, including Dr Florian Willet, the president of The Last Resort organisation.

The right-to-die activist, 47, took his own life.

He suffered a mental breakdown after being arrested by Swiss Police last year, according to Dr Nitschke.

As part of the probe, prosecutors investigated whether he strangled the woman, but that was ruled out.

Willet was released in December after being held in pre-trial detention for 70 days.

He reportedly died in Germany with the help of a specialist organisation, though it is not known exactly how he died.

Henry Morgan

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