Glenn Stratton: Son faces court for assisting suicide of elderly father, Colin Stratton, at Castlemaine

A devoted son tearfully told his ailing dad he loved him, before closing his eyes, pulling a trigger and granting him his final wish.

A devoted son who tearfully told his elderly father he loved him, before granting his final wish and shooting him, has been praised as a selfless “hero”.

Glenn Stratton, 53, on Friday faced the Bendigo Supreme Court, having previously pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting the suicide of his 80-year-old father, Colin Stratton.

The court heard Colin and his late wife, Sue, were both long term supporters of euthanasia, and that he had repeatedly spoken to doctors about Victoria’s voluntary assisted dying program.

Despite having chronic cancer and suffering increasing amounts of pain, he was ineligible for the program.

Supplied Editorial Colin Stratton pic

On the morning he died, visited his local GP clinic a final time and asked to be given medication which would end his life.

When the doctor refused it, and rang Colin’s family, he said to his son he had decided “today’s my day”.

At home, Colin, unable to turn his rifle on himself, told his son he “needed a favour” and asked Stratton to pull the trigger.

“Don’t make me make a bloody mess of it, I can’t do it myself,” he said.

Police at the Stratton family home in Castlemaine the day Colin Stratton decided to end his own life. Picture: Zizi Averill

Colin, a keen gardener, had hoped to die with a “peaceful pill” and a “cuppa” in his beloved garden, but a previous attempt to buy a euthanasia drugs on the black market saw him scammed out of money.

The court heard the father and son said their final goodbyes, and that they loved each other, before Stratton closed his eyes and pulled the trigger.

Colin’s daughter, Donna, arrived home to Stratton sobbing in the backyard, and told the court on Friday he had “sacrificed himself” to give Colin the dignified, painless “end he deserved”.

Most of the extended family had travelled to Cairns for Colin’s final holiday before he died.

Donna said her father’s illnesses increasingly “robbed him of the things he loved in life” including the taste of good food and wine.

Glenn Stratton, 53 pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting the suicide of his father, Colin. Picture: Facebook

“Dad had deliberated over this for some time,” she said.

She said her brother had been punished enough by being locked up for the funeral, after initially being charged with murder.

She said Stratton helping Colin die was “legally wrong” but was “the most selfless act that anyone could have done”.

Stratton’s brother, Searle, told the court Colin had been his hero.

“My new hero is now my brother,” he said.

“He sacrificed his freedom in the greatest act of love.”

One of Colin’s grandchildren, Daniel Devereaux, said this of his Pa, “they don’t make them like they used to”.

The Bendigo Law Courts. Picture: Zizi Averill

“He wasn’t a rock, he was a mountain, an immovable object and a guiding force in our family.

“The health system had failed him and would not let him end his life on his own terms,” he said.

Stratton’s barrister, Shane Gardner, urged Justice Elizabeth Hollingworth to sentence his client in a way that would allow him to travel to New South Wales for Christmas.

Prosecutors are not pushing for him to serve any more time behind bars, and described his motives as “altruistic”.

Justice Hollingworth will sentence Stratton next Thursday.

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