BBC presenter released on bail in probe over ‘mercy’ killing confession

A VETERAN BBC broadcaster arrested on suspicion of murder after he confessed to smothering an ex-lover who had AIDS was released on bail yesterday, his lawyer said.

Ray Gosling, 70, was arrested on Wednesday after admitting he had killed the unidentified man as he lay seriously ill in hospital “in the early period of AIDS” – likely to be during the 1980s.

Gosling’s confession during a television programme on Monday has highlighted an intense debate in Britain about assisted suicide, ahead of the publication of new government guidelines next week.

The TV presenter’s lawyer, Digby Johnson, said: “He has been released on police bail. There are further inquiries to be carried out. He provided the police with a lot of information and they have now got to sift through that.”

Johnson said his client was “delighted to be out” but was exhausted.

Speaking to reporters earlier outside the police station in Nottingham, the lawyer said Gosling had yet to reveal the name of his ex-lover.

“When Ray made the disclosure on television, no person was named. I think it is fair to say that as far as Ray and I are aware, that’s still the case” Johnson said.

In the programme, Gosling told of how he had taken his lover’s life after they agreed a pact.

“In a hospital one hot afternoon, the doctor said, ‘There’s nothing we can do’, and he was in terrible, terrible pain,” he told viewers. “I said to the doctor, ‘Leave me just for a bit’ and he went away.

“I picked up the pillow and smothered him until he was dead.”

Asked whether Gosling expected the widespread media coverage his confession received, Johnson said: “He is very surprised at the attention it has drawn... Ray thought it was a fairly short item on a regional television programme and it wouldn’t cause many ripples.”

Britain is engaged in a fierce debate about so-called mercy killings and whether people with terminal illnesses should be allowed to be helped to die – something that remains illegal but is rarely prosecuted.

New guidelines on such cases are due to be published next Thursday.