An Australian man has been sentenced to ten years in prison for encouraging his wife to kill herself, in a landmark ruling.
Graham Morant, 69, was found guilty last month of counselling and aiding the suicide of his 56-year-old wife, Jennifer, who suffered from chronic health conditions.
Morant, the sole beneficiary of his wife’s three life insurance policies, had bought equipment from a hardware store to enable her to kill herself in her car at their Gold Coast hinterlands home.
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“You took advantage of her vulnerability as a sick and depressed woman,” said Justice Peter Davis during sentencing at the Supreme Court in Brisbane this week.
The judge said Morant was motivated by a desire to get the life insurance money, worth a total of about $1.4m (£780,000), and had shown no remorse for his part in his wife’s death, in 2014.
Described by News.com.au as a “religious fanatic”, Morant had told his wife he would use the payout to build a Christian commune with bunkers as a haven from the biblical rapture. However, Davis said evidence indicated that Morant was in significant debt.
The self-styled religious pastor received a maximum ten-year sentence for the charge of counselling suicide, and six years for the charge of aiding suicide, with both sentences to be served concurrently.
The judge said it “appeared to be the first time globally” that a person had been convicted for encouraging a suicide.
Karyn Walsh, from social justice initiative Micah Projects, told ABC News that the case also touched on core issues of domestic abuse.
“It is the control of someone’s freedom and liberty of choices, and it is integral to most circumstances of domestic violence,” Walsh said.
