Queensland Woman Receives Suspended Sentence After Assisting Husband’s Suicide

Kylie Ellina Truswell-Mobbs, 52, and her husband David Ronald Mobbs, 56, a former firefighter, lived in Alexandra Hills, Queensland. Mobbs was diagnosed with an aggressive form of motor neurone disease (MND) in early 2023. The disease rapidly paralysed him; within months he went from independent to entirely bedridden. By early December 2023 he could no longer speak, communicating only by blinking or a letter board, and he was in constant pain and unable to use the toilet without assistance. Queensland’s voluntary assisted dying legislation, activated in early 2023, could have applied, but the court was told accessing it would require at least nine days.

The Guardian

In the Supreme Court in Brisbane, Truswell-Mobbs pleaded not guilty to murder but guilty to assisting suicide in the death of her husband on 6 December 2023. Justice Tom Sullivan accepted that she acted out of compassion and imposed a suspended jail term, dismissing the murder charge that could have carried a life sentence.

The Guardian

Crown prosecutor Caroline Marco described the circumstances as “exceptionally difficult.” Justice Sullivan noted the rapid decline of Mobbs’s health after his diagnosis and accepted the compassionate motive. Defence barrister Ruth O’Gorman testified that Mobbs “begged to die” and that the act was carried out with the full knowledge of the couple’s sons and carers.

The Guardian

• Mobbs died on 6 December 2023.

The Guardian

• By 5 December 2023 he could no longer speak and required constant assistance.

The Guardian

• He was unable to walk, move, or manage personal hygiene without help.

The Guardian

• “That night he begged to die,” — Ruth O’Gorman — Ruth O’Gorman

The Guardian