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| Right to die case: Shrewsbury's Noel Conway loses court bid | Right to die case: Shrewsbury's Noel Conway loses court bid |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| A man with terminal motor neurone disease has lost a High Court bid to challenge the law on assisted dying. | A man with terminal motor neurone disease has lost a High Court bid to challenge the law on assisted dying. |
| Noel Conway, 67, who was diagnosed in November 2014 and is not expected to live beyond 12 months, said he should be free to determine his own death. | Noel Conway, 67, who was diagnosed in November 2014 and is not expected to live beyond 12 months, said he should be free to determine his own death. |
| Mr Conway, of Shrewsbury, had told the court at a previous hearing he faces an "unbearable death" because of the law. | Mr Conway, of Shrewsbury, had told the court at a previous hearing he faces an "unbearable death" because of the law. |
| Speaking after the hearing he said he would appeal against the court's decision. | |
| It is the first case to be heard since the law was challenged in 2014 and 2015. | |
| More on this and other Shropshire stories here | |
| Mr Conway had hoped to bring a judicial review that could result in terminally ill adults who meet strict criteria, making their own decisions about ending their lives. | |
| His counsel, Richard Gordon QC, told the court that when he had less than six months to live and while he retained the mental capacity to make the decision his client "would wish to be able to enlist assistance to bring about a peaceful and dignified death". | |
| Mr Conway was seeking a declaration that the Suicide Act 1961 is incompatible with Article 8, which relates to respect for private and family life, and Article 14, which enables protection from discrimination. | |
| He was not in court in London to hear Lord Justice Burnett and Mr Justice Jay rule he did not have an arguable case to go forward. | |
| 'Risk incriminating loved ones' | |
| Mr Conway, who is married with a son, daughter, stepson and grandchild, said he was "very disappointed" with their ruling. | |
| "Though this is a setback in my fight for rights at the end of my life, I will not be deterred and will be appealing this decision," he said. | |
| He said he has "come to terms" with fact he is going to die, but does not accept being "denied the ability to decide the timing and manner of my death". | |
| "The only alternative is to spend thousands of pounds, travel hundreds of miles and risk incriminating my loved ones in asking them to accompany me to Dignitas," he said. | |
| The campaign group Dignity in Dying has supported his legal bid. |