'Parents quizzed' after paralysed son, 23, takes his own life at suicide clinic

Daniel James, 23, who played for England schoolboys travelled to the euthanasia clinic last month. It is believed his parents have been questioned by police looking into his death.

He is believed to be the youngest person from Britain to have gone to Switzerland to take his own life.

His parents, Julie and Mark James, from Sinton Green, Worcester, said he was "an intelligent young man of sound mind" who was "not prepared to live what he felt was a second-class existence".

They said their son had tried "several" times to kill himself before he "gained his wish".

As West Mercia Police launched an investigation, his parents said: "His death was an extremely sad loss for his family, friends and all those that care for him but no doubt a welcome relief from the 'prison' he felt his body had become and the day-to-day fear and loathing of his living existence, as a result of which he took his own life.

"This is the last way that the family wanted Dan's life to end, but he was, as those who knew him are aware, an intelligent, strong-willed and some say determined young man.

"The family suffered considerably over the last few months and do wish to be left in peace to allow them to grieve appropriately."

Mr James's parents said he had never come to terms with his much-documented extreme physical incapacity. They added: "Over the last six months, he constantly expressed his wish to die and was determined to achieve this in some way."

Mr James, from Worcester, was a promising rugby player who represented England at under-16s level.

In March last year, he dislocated his spine when a scrum collapsed during a training session at Nuneaton Rugby Football Club. A spinal research fund created by family and friends in his memory has raised almost 25,000.

Detective Inspector Adrian Todd said: "A police investigation is ongoing and officers have spoken with a man and a woman in connection with the case.

"A report will later be submitted to the Crown Prosecution Service and an inquest into the death will take place in due course."

Mr James was in the middle of a degree, reported to be in construction engineering management, at Loughborough University in Leicestershire when he died.

He also played for the England Universities rugby team and England Students. A spokesman for the Rugby Football Union said he was a "very good player" who was highly regarded by his team-mates.

Sarah Wootton, the chief executive of Dignity in Dying, which campaigns for a change in the law to permit medically assisted dying, said: "It demonstrates, once again that, even though assisted suicide is illegal in this country, it is happening.

"Dignity in Dying campaigns for terminally ill, mentally competent adults to have the option of an assisted death, subject to legal safeguards. Dan James would not have been eligible for an assisted death under this sort of legislation but, if it were in place, requests for help to die could be expressed openly to doctors rather than made to relatives behind closed doors.

"People such as Dan James with non-terminal conditions, who expressed a wish to die, could openly discuss their concerns and be given greater support managing their conditions."

Mr James's case was "yet another tragic sign" that UK law was not working. "It is vital that we face up to these issues and debate them as a society," she said.

One woman's long fight for the right to die with impunity

THE death of paralysed rugby player Daniel James comes just weeks after the High Court reserved judgment in the battle by a woman with multiple sclerosis (MS) to clarify the law on assisted suicide.

Debbie Purdy, who uses a wheelchair, intends – if life becomes unbearable – to travel to a clinic in Switzerland or Belgium where people can end their lives by injection.

But assisting suicide in the UK is unlawful and punishable by up to 14 years' in prison, and she fears her husband, Omar Puente, 46, a Cuban jazz violinist, could face prosecution if he helps her. Her lawyers are seeking a High Court declaration that the director of public prosecutions, Sir Ken Macdonald, is obliged under human rights laws to spell out in clearterms the circumstances and the factors which might lead to a prosecution.

The judges gave the pro-life group the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC) permission to intervene and put a written statement of its views before the court.

No-one has yet been prosecuted for helping a loved one fly abroad to die. But Ms Purdy, 45, from Bradford, West Yorkshire, said: "As long as the DPP will not clarify his policy, I worry that as my husband is black and a foreigner, this makes him a more likely target for prosecution."

Diane Pretty, who died of motor neurone disease in 2002, failed in her legal battle – which went to the European Court of Human Rights – to obtain immunity from prosecution for her husband if he assisted her in dying. The House of Lords had dismissed her claim that her human rights had been violated.