Family sat with man as he died from overdose to escape pain, inquest told
A LYMINGTON pensioner whose wife and son were arrested on suspicion of assisting his death, killed himself "peacefully" at his home to escape chronic pain, an inquest heard.
Ralph Saxon-Snell (94) ingested a lethal dose of sleeping tablets and morphine, washed down with chocolate cake and biscuits, at his Courtenay Place home on 28th January this year.
His son Richard and wife Molly were there at the time, Winchester Coroner’s Court heard, which led to Hampshire Police arresting them.
Officers submitted an investigation file to the Crown Prosecution Service but no charges were eventually brought against either of them.
Mr Saxon-Snell had been an active man, sailing and playing badminton into his late 80s as well as swimming and walking daily.
But he set his mind on ending his life after his mobility became restricted in his last 18 months due to osteoporosis and pleurisy.
The inquest heard that on the day of his death Mr Saxon-Snell and his son, who lives in Somerset, went to see his GP, Dr Ian Murray, at the Lymington Wisteria surgery.
Mr Saxon-Snell, a London-born retired legal shorthand writer, was said to have a “hatred” of medical professionals, treatment and hospitals but respected his doctor and told him that he wanted to die.
In a statement to the inquest Dr Murray said Mr Saxon-Snell had a “jovial nature” and he did not take the request seriously.
But because of his patient’s pain and worsening insomnia, Dr Murray prescribed Mr Saxon-Snell some sleeping tablets and morphine pain relief.
Later that afternoon Mr Saxon-Snell and his son returned home, where he “began the process” of dying while sat in an armchair in the lounge.
Richard told the inquest that after dropping his father at home he left the property, thinking he might not actually take the medication.
However, having got halfway to his Somerset home he turned around after receiving a call from Molly who said his father had begun taking the medication.
Richard confirmed to the inquest that he sat with his father as he took his treatments and Mr Saxon-Snell died at around 5.30pm. He said he had brought his father some chocolate cake as a “treat” while taking the medication and he had also eaten a biscuit.
“That’s all that matters to me and my mother – that he had a peaceful death. He wanted to die. He slipped away,” Richard told the inquest.
He described his father as “somewhat irascible”, “old fashioned” and family orientated. Richard added: “He came to hate medics for no good reason, really.”
That attitude meant that when Mr Saxon-Snell went into Bournemouth Hospital in 2017 suffering constipation and back pain, it had been an “absolutely horrific” experience his father had not been keen to repeat.
After leaving hospital Mr Saxon-Snell walked with the aid of a wheeled frame and was hunched over.
The inquest heard he took an overdose of pills on Christmas Eve 2017, although the dosage was small. On another occasion in late 2018 he tried to electrocute himself using a phone charger.
Because of his resistance to getting help, he had stopped taking his pain relief medication and rebelled against attempts from the family for him to seek assistance.
In March 2018 he was diagnosed as suffering with osteoporosis and he stopped walking and swimming completely. It was during that year he informed family members of his wish to die.
“It was all part of the general indignity he objected to about being older,” Richard told the inquest.
“We discussed Dignitas… But it was too much trouble and he knew it would take several weeks. He did not like to be travelling that distance so he ruled that out, basically.
“I was fully prepared to help him in whatever he wanted to do. It was obviously what he wanted to do.”
That observation was supported by his partner of 10 years, Alison Henry, who described Mr Saxon-Snell as the “patriarch” of the family.
There had been a huge family in party in Beaulieu in July 2018 where Mr Saxon-Snell had made a point of telling the family he wanted to end his life, she added.
After the electrocution attempt Ms Henry said she felt Mr Saxon-Snell was “determined to end his own life” and it had been his own “rational decision”.
She had been “incredulous” at police arresting Molly, and she commented. “The whole family believed he [Richard] acted in accordance with Ralph’s wishes.”
The inquest heard that after Mr Saxon-Snell’s death Richard phoned the 111 service and an out-of-hours doctor attended the scene. However, she would not certify the death and called police.
Officers spoke with Richard and Molly before arresting both. They found a letter by the deceased possibly penned about two years earlier in which he outlined how to settle the family finances.
The officer in the case, DC Kayleigh Rush, said: “The CPS made the decision that no further action would be taken against either Richard or Molly.
“It was on a public interests basis for Richard. In relation to Molly it was that there was no realistic prospect of a conviction."
Pathologist Dr Basil Purdue explained toxicology tests showed Mr Saxon-Snell had ingested almost three to four weeks of medication in one go, with the morphine likely to have been the fatal ingredient.
He said the evidence suggested Mr Saxon-Snell suffered the osteoporosis for some time, but the pleurisy had been a short-term development not long before his death and would have exacerbated the pain.
There was absolutely no evidence Mr Saxon-Snell was the victim of an assault or had been forced to do anything prior to his death, Dr Purdue stressed.
Senior coroner Grahame Short concluded Mr Saxon-Snell died as a result of a suicide due to a mixed-drug ingestion of prescribed medication.
“It’s sadly too common that people coming to the end of life and suffering pain decide to end their life,” he told Richard.
“It’s unfortunate that through the means by which he chose to do this he implicated his family and put you and your mother through the process of police investigation and potential prosecution.
“It’s not for me to make a judgement about your actions – I do understand entirely about your wish to support him and do understand he put you in a very difficult position because of his decision.
“That was ultimately his decision and I do believe he had a peaceful passing at the end of the process.”
