Retired nurse accused of sending ‘white powder’ to peers over Assisted Dying Bill cleared by jury

A retired radiology nurse accused of sending two letters containing white powder to the House of Lords urging peers to support the Assisted Dying Bill has been cleared by a jury.

Chek Min-Ong, 74, allegedly addressed the mail to Lord Sandhurst and Baroness Chisholm of Owlpen, on Oct 11 2021, while caring for his partner, Tim, who had suffered a stroke.

The envelopes, containing harmless sucrose, were never delivered to the peers as they were intercepted by postal handlers wearing protective gear.

Both letters read: “Please support the Assisted Dying Bill. You have to let people decide their own lives. To die without suffering and awful pain where there is no cure for the illness is inhumane.”

Prosecutor Toby Fitzgerald told jurors at Southwark Crown Court: “You will hear that this defendant for many years was a distinguished radiology nurse.

“You will hear that the defendant supported assisted dying and at the time of the letters being sent his long-standing partner was very ill following a stroke.’

Ong claimed that he did not remember sending the letters or putting the sugar into the envelopes and denied the charges.

His psychiatrist said he might be suffering from dissociative neurological symptom disorder which causes memory issues.

Ong was cleared of two counts of sending a letter or article with intent.

Friends who joined him in the public gallery silently applauded as he was unanimously cleared by the jury, who had been deliberating for almost two hours. 

Afterwards Ong, of Lambeth, said: ‘I am so relieved. This is something I did not do.’

The Guardian reported earlier this year that Ong lives in the UK’s first LGBTQ retirement block opposite the Houses of Parliament.