April 10, 2025
Man Arrested in UK – Investigated for 29 Assisted Suicide Deaths
The law in the UK prohibits people from assisting the suicide of others, though prosecutions are incredibly rare, ITV News UK Editor Paul Brand reports
A man has been arrested in the UK on suspicion of encouraging or assisting the suicide of a British person in Switzerland, with police potentially investigating dozens more deaths.
Sean Davison is currently on police bail and has previously said publicly that he has helped people when they want to travel to Switzerland to take their own lives.
Sean Davison @ Pegasos
ITV News understands that his arrest was in relation to a 79 year-old British woman who flew to Switzerland last year, but Mr Davison has said publicly that police are now looking into 29 deaths he was allegedly involved in.
Officers arrested him last summer, with the details only now coming to light.
Dorset Police confirmed to ITV News, “At around 7.30 am on Monday 15 July 2024, officers executed a warrant at an address in the Sandford area of Wareham under Section 8 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act.”
“A man aged in his 60s was arrested on suspicion of intentionally doing an act capable of encouraging or assisting the suicide of another. He has been released on police bail as further enquiries are carried out.”
“Our investigation is continuing and as is usual in a complex case, we have been liaising with the Crown Prosecution Service to ascertain if the threshold for prosecution is met.”
“We will not be going into any further details at this time.”
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The law in the UK prohibits people from assisting the suicide of others, though prosecutions are incredibly rare.
Since 2009, there have been 187 cases referred to the CPS by police, but only 4 of those cases led to a conviction.
Mr Davison lives in Dorset, where he did not answer questions when invited to comment on his arrest by ITV News last week.
ITV News met Mr Davison last year, while investigating the practices of Pegasos – the Swiss assisted dying clinic he has worked for.
In May 2024, we travelled to its offices in Basel with the family of Alastair Hamilton, who had spoken to Mr Davison shortly before taking his life at Pegasos in 2023 without his family’s knowledge.
At the time, Mr Davison told us: “I said [to Alastair] you’re a handsome man, you’ve got such a life ahead of you. I really pleaded with him. I would never encourage anyone to end their life.”
Mr Hamilton’s mother, Judith, told us she has contacted Dorset Police to ask them to also investigate his case following Mr Davison’s arrest.
“Perhaps they can answer some questions for us. They may need the help of the Swiss authorities, that I don’t know. This can’t go on. It cannot go on. My life has changed so much,” she told us.
MPs in England and Wales are currently considering a bill that would legalise assisted dying for those with a terminal illness who have been told that they have less than six months left to live.
ITV News understands that Mr Davison is accused of assisting people to die who would likely fall outside of the scope of any future law in Britain.
If you have been affected by any of the issues in this story, you can contact us at investigations@itv.com
Lawyer Kate Goold, a partner at Hickman & Rose who has worked on several assisted dying cases, explained how prosecutors would be weighing up various factors when considering whether to press charges.
“It is very unusual. The factors prosecutors look at are: is the person under 18, did they have mental capacity to make a decision to take their life, was it done for financial gain, how close are they in relationship with that person, and if it was advertised or publicised that they offer this service.”
Mr Davison did not respond to ITV News when also invited to comment in writing.
He has previously told the media in his native New Zealand that he did not think he was breaking the law.
Following his arrest, Pegasos told ITV News, “We cannot share, confirm, nor deny the identities of our employees or voluntary supporters in public as privacy and confidentiality are at the center of our commitment. We therefore can’t comment on your questions regarding Mr Davison.”
“Pegasos has always respected the applicable Swiss law without exception and continues to do so. We maintain full cooperation with the authorities.”