Ray Gosling arrested over 'mercy killing'
Updated on 17 February 2010
BBC presenter Ray Gosling has been arrested on suspicion of murder after he admitted the mercy killing of his terminally ill lover.
The presenter was detained by police after he told viewers of BBC East Midlands' Inside Out programme that he smothered an unnamed partner as he lay in hospital suffering from Aids.
Ray Gosling said he had smothered the unnamed man while he was lying in a hospital bed "in terrible, terrible pain".
A police spokeswoman said today: "Nottinghamshire Police has this morning arrested a 70-year-old Nottingham man on suspicion of murder following comments on the BBC's Inside Out programme on Monday evening."
Mr Gosling revealed his story during the programme saying: "Maybe this is the time to share a secret that I have kept for quite a long time. I killed someone once. He was a young chap. He'd been my lover and he got Aids.
He then when on to describe what had happened: "In a hospital one hot afternoon, the doctor said, 'There's nothing we can do', and he was in terrible, terrible pain.
"I said to the doctor, 'Leave me just for a bit' and he went away. I picked up the pillow and smothered him until he was dead. The doctor came back and I said, 'He's gone'. Nothing more was ever said."
Aiding or abetting another person's death remains a criminal offensive in England and Wales under the 1961 Suicide Act. It is punishable by up to 14 years in jail.
