The guidelines: reasons for prosecution

The sixteen public interest factors in favour of prosecution are:

• The victim was under 18 years of age.
• The victim did not have the capacity (as defined by the Mental Capacity Act 2005) to reach an informed decision to commit suicide.
• The victim had not reached a voluntary, clear, settled and informed decision to commit suicide.
• The victim had not clearly and unequivocally communicated his or her decision to commit suicide to the suspect.
• The victim did not seek the encouragement or assistance of the suspect personally or on his or her own initiative.
• The suspect was not wholly motivated by compassion; for example, the suspect was motivated by the prospect that he or she or a person closely connected to him or her stood to gain in some way from the death of the victim.
• The suspect pressured the victim to commit suicide.
• The suspect did not take reasonable steps to ensure that any other person had not pressured the victim to commit suicide.
• The suspect had a history of violence or abuse against the victim.
• The victim was physically able to undertake the act that constituted the assistance himself or herself.
• The suspect was unknown to the victim and encouraged or assisted the victim to commit or attempt to commit suicide by providing specific information via, for example, a website or publication.
• The suspect gave encouragement or assistance to more than one victim who were not known to each other.
• The suspect was paid by the victim or those close to the victim for his or her encouragement or assistance.
• The suspect was acting in his or her capacity as a medical doctor, nurse, other healthcare professional, a professional carer (whether for payment or not), or as a person in authority, such as a prison officer, and the victim was in his or her care.
• The suspect was aware that the victim intended to commit suicide in a public place where it was reasonable to think that members of the public may be present.
• The suspect was acting in his or her capacity as a person involved in the management or as an employee (whether for payment or not) of an organisation or group, a purpose of which is to provide a physical environment (whether for payment or not) in which to allow another to commit suicide.