A devoted son who granted his terminally ill father's desperate wish to die at the end of a .22 rifle has been released on a good behaviour bond.
Glenn Stratton, 53, had pleaded guilty in the Supreme Court of Victoria to aiding and abetting the suicide of his 80-year-old father Colin.
Stratton had been placed in an unenviable position in May last year after his father was denied immediate access to a 'suicide pill'.
Glenn Stratton, 53, agreed to shoot dead his cancer-suffering father Colin, 80, at his property in May this year in Castlemaine, Victoria after doctors refused to euthanise him
Mr Stratton Snr has been diagnosed with bowel cancer in 2018 after watching his own wife die slowly after she suffered a stroke.
Her miserable demise had prompted the Stratton family to lobby for voluntary euthanasia.
Mr Stratton Snr had been grief stricken over the death of his wife and when cancer struck him down, he knew that when the time was right, he wanted to end his life on his own terms.
In passing sentence on Thursday, Justice Elizabeth Hollingworth painted a grim picture of the dying father's list of medical ailments.
Chemotherapy lumped upon arthritis and other conditions saw Mr Stratton Snr's mental state decline in the weeks before his death.
He had lost his sense of taste, could not feel his hands, was in constant pain and unable to even pot about in his garden any longer.
Adored by his family, he told them the time was right to end his suffering.
He and his late wife had spoken with doctors on multiple occasions about Victoria's voluntary assisted dying program.
Under the scheme, terminally-ill Victorian adults in intolerable pain and with less than six months to live, or 12 months for neurodegenerative diseases, and who meet 68 safeguards can request their doctor's help in dying.
Mr Stratton Snr had simply wanted to enjoy a cup of tea in his garden, take the pill, and slip away peacefully.
