Graham Mansfield: Failed suicide pact killer calls for law change

Family and friends spoke of Graham Mansfield's "unswerving devotion" for his wife

A man who was handed a suspended prison sentence after killing his terminally ill wife in a failed suicide pact has said the law on euthanasia must change.

Graham Mansfield, 73, said he killed his 71-year-old wife Dyanne at their home in Hale, Greater Manchester, in March 2021 in an "act of love".

He was cleared of murder but convicted of manslaughter by a jury at Manchester Crown Court. He denied both charges.

Mansfield said his wife asked him to kill her "when things get bad for me".

The retired airport baggage handler told the court they were the "saddest words he had ever heard", but agreed to his wife's request so long as he could kill himself too.

Mansfield was found lying in a pool of blood at their home in Canterbury Road on the morning of 24 March 2021, while the body of Mrs Mansfield was slumped in a chair at the bottom of their garden.

He pleaded not guilty to murder and also to manslaughter on the grounds his actions were "undertaken through duress of circumstances".

"I don't want anybody to go through this," Graham Mansfield said alongside his solicitor Rachel Fletcher

On sentencing him to two years in prison, suspended for two years, Mr Justice Goose told Mansfield: "The circumstances of this case are a tragedy for you and are exceptional in the experiences of this court.

"You were under immense emotional pressure. I am entirely satisfied you acted out of love for your wife."

Mansfield said his wife, a retired clerk, was told she had lung cancer which had spread to her lymph nodes in September 2020.

A week later they were told the cancer had reached stage four.

'Barbaric circumstances'

Speaking outside court after he was sentenced, Mansfield said his wife "shouldn't have had to die in such barbaric circumstances... that is what we had to resort to".

"Nobody should have to go through what we went through," he said.

"Some form of euthanasia with terminal illness" was "a priority", he said, adding "the sooner that happens the better this country will be".

He said: "Dyanne would be fuming now that I have got a conviction for doing something that she asked us to do. That I couldn't live without her.

"But at the end of the day... I've walked out of this building thinking a few hours ago I was going into a cell."

He added: "I don't want anybody to go through this. It's a strain."

Dyanne Mansfield was told she had lung cancer which had spread to her lymph nodes in September 2020

His solicitor Rachel Fletcher said she was pleased the "ordeal is over for Graham".

"He should never have been charged and in the future he probably wouldn't have been," she said.

"The law in this country is brutal and needs to catch up with other countries throughout the world."

Mansfield was arrested at the scene on suspicion of murder and later underwent surgery for wounds to his neck and both wrists.

The court heard when police spoke to the couple's family, friends and neighbours after his arrest, they spoke favourably about Mansfield and his "unswerving devotion" to his wife.

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The court heard Mansfield had written two notes. One read: "We have decided to take our own lives".

The second note addressed to his family read: "We are sorry to burden you with this but there is no other way. When Dyanne was diagnosed with cancer, we made a pact.

"Don't get too upset. We have had a wonderful and happy life together."

Mansfield's barrister Richard Orme added: "The complete waste of taxpayers' money aside, it was not in the public interest to seek any conviction against this gentle and caring man.

"The sooner the law changes the better."