Mixed reaction from families of Howard Martin's patients

Howard Martin's admission of hastening the deaths of some of his patients has met with a mixed reaction from their relatives, with one calling the former GP an "angel of mercy" while others are urging police to reopen the murder investigation. Albert Cubitt, 88, from Newton Aycliffe, said the police should not reopen the case, calling Martin a "lovely fella". Cubitt said the former GP, who has been struck off the medical register, had eased the suffering of his wife Bessie, who died after battling lung cancer. A General Medical Council (GMC) disciplinary hearing found Bessie Cubitt, who died in January 2001 aged 78, was "put at risk of dying" by Martin's excessive use of morphine and diazepam. But her widower was full of praise for the former GP, saying his wife was in considerable discomfort towards the end of her life. Recalling her illness, Cubitt said: "I really loved her, she really loved me. We had a very happy relationship. But there were times I looked at her and she couldn't eat. I thought 'Bessie lass, you would be better off dead'. "She was the one that asked. He didn't ask her, she asked him. When the time came it was her that asked if she could do it. She was grateful. "She just said to me one day, 'Al, send for Martin.' That was it. I said, 'are you sure?' She said 'sure, positive'. Martin came, that's when it was done. He gave her a needle on the afternoon. She was in a coma. The following day he came back at 10am. He said she wouldn't need any more. She died at 2pm that afternoon." Cubitt said he was opposed to a new police investigation into Martin. "Why the hell don't they drop it? How many times have they had him up? They seem determined to get him," he said. Cubitt, whose daughter recently died, said he was in favour of euthanasia so people who were being "tortured" by pain could die peacefully. However, not all relatives were full of praise for the former GP. Paul Gittins said he hoped the police would reinvestigate the death of his father Harry, aged 74, in January 2004. He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "I don't know what can be done. I think the police should look into it because the evidence that's come up from the coroner's court – because the coroner said my dad would not have died when he did if it wasn't for the high doses of diamorphine – and with what the GMC has come out with, it's evidence that hopefully ... the police could use this and re-look into the case." He said there was no possibility his father had asked the GP to end his life. "My dad was not in any pain and discomfort that day. There was no reason for him [Martin] to do what he did. My dad had no intention of wanting to die, definitely not," he said.