Ex-Army medic jailed for drunken attack on one wife, now investigated over death of first

A former Army medic who is being investigated by police after admitting helping his terminally ill wife to die 24 years ago, was jailed for a vicious attack on his most recent spouse, it has emerged.

Douglas Hellier Laing, 71, found himself at the centre of a Devon and Cornwall Police homicide investigation last year after revealing in a letter to a newspaper that he had given his cancer stricken wife a fatal injection in 1998.

He wrote the letter as part of the debate into assisted dying and said he was willing to "take whatever was coming".

But it can now be revealed that the retired property developer was also jailed for three years for a drunken attack on his most recent wife in 2017.

Mr Laing was convicted at Exeter Crown Court of hitting Susan Laing around the head with a wooden mallet three times before then calling the police.

The court was told he showed "no emotion" as he carried out the attack while drunk on Polish brandy.

Mrs Laing, who escaped to a neighbour's home, said in a victim statement: "I still suffer from flashbacks and I still see his expressionless face as he hit me."

Following the incident he was initially arrested on suspicion of attempted murder, which he denied, but later admitted wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

At the time of his arrest, Mr Laing was the executive member for economy, skills and tourism at Teignbridge District Council. But he subsequently resigned and was suspended by the Conservative Party.

In October last year he came to the attention of police once again when he revealed how he had injected his first wife Christine with a lethal combination of drugs when she told him she was "ready to die" because her ovarian cancer had become too much to bear.

In the letter, he wrote: "I'm in tears as I recall that conversation. I have struggled with what I did and only recently spoken to close family about it.

Supporting assisted dying

"I wanted to make my actions public knowledge in support of the move to legalise assisted dying. Taking the brave decision she did allowed my wife to say goodbye to our two sons while she was able to, and allowed us to have a final cuddle.

"Then she was gone."

He added: "I know the consequences and it doesn't bother me one jot."

Mr Laing, a former combat medic for the Royal Army Medical Corps, met his first wife in late 1968 when she was a student nurse at a military hospital in London.

Following the publication of the letter Devon and Cornwall Police confirmed it had begun a homicide investigation.

Mr Laing was supported by Dignity in Dying, a campaign set up to change the law on assisted suicides.

Devon and Cornwall Police said in a statement: "Devon and Cornwall Police have launched a homicide investigation in relation to the death of a woman in Devon in the 1990s.

"Enquiries remain ongoing in relation to this matter."

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