A FORMER Cranbrook School pupil has issued a plea to the Director of Public Prosecutions to allow his wife to help him end his life.

Tony Nicklinson, 56, suffers from locked-in Syndrome and can only move his head and eyes following a massive stroke five years ago in Athens.

The former Goudhurst resident, who now lives in Wiltshire, wants his wife to help him commit suicide but fears she will be prosecuted for murder.

He can now only communicate by nodding or blinking at a board of letters to spell out words and has made a clear wish to end his life.

In a statement, Mr Nicklinson said: "I need help in almost every aspect of my life. I cannot scratch if I itch. I cannot pick my nose if it is blocked and I can only eat if I am fed like a baby – only I won't grow out of it, unlike a baby.

"I have no privacy or dignity left. I am fed up with my life and don't want to spend the next 20 years or so like this."

The father-of-two added: "Am I grateful that the Athens doctors saved my life? No, I am not. If I had my time again, and knew then what I know now, I would have not called the ambulance but let nature take its course."

Mr Nicklinson issued proceedings in the High Court on July 19 to question whether it is in the public interest to prosecute a person for murder in the case of consensual killing.

If it is found to be in the public interest, Mr Nicklinson's legal team will seek a review of the law of murder to see whether consensual killing should be treated differently from the unlawful killing of another without the victim's consent.

Mr Nicklinson's wife Jane, 54, said: "The fact that Tony is unable to speak is hideous. Rugby is his passion in life and he was always the life and soul of the party, so the fact that it is so difficult to communicate is extremely frustrating.

"He does not feel he has any quality of life and wants the right which everyone else has to decide when to end it. He will not ask me to help him, or anyone else to help him, if he thinks they will be prosecuted for murder."