An Auckland man who admitted helping his chronically ill wife to die has been discharged without conviction.
Evans Mott, 61, pleaded guilty in May to aiding and abetting the death of his wife Rosemary, who suffered from multiple sclerosis and committed suicide at their Auckland home last December.
At the time his lawyer Ron Mansfield indicated Mott would seek a discharge without conviction and would put forward "considerable evidence" at the sentencing hearing.
"This shouldn't be a story of an alleged crime, rather one of genuine love and grief," he told the New Zealand Herald.
At the High Court in Auckland today, Mr Mott got his wish.
"It is truly unfortunate that in our modern society we force people to be isolated in these circumstances and then expose their loving and grieving family to the indignity of being dragged before our criminal courts in this way," says Mr Mansfield.
Mr Mott, an England-born master boatbuilder who helped in the construction of a superyacht for billionaire Graeme Hart, helped his wife research suicide methods and prepare a kit last September.
On December 28 Mrs Mott, who was battling the degenerative disease which attacks the nervous system, asked her husband to leave their Orakei home. He later returned to find her dead.
NZN / 3 News