Swiss officials, following a request to die from an imprisoned child rapist, have confirmed that prison inmates will be allowed to undergo assisted suicide. Michael Robinson, SPUC Director of Communications said: "When convicted of a crime, one should serve the sentence due. A child rapist should not have the option to opt out via assisted suicide."

Peter Vogt was imprisoned in 1996 after he spent decades sexually assaulting girls as young as ten. Vogt now claims to be suffering from heart and kidney problems, and has applied to die at a Swiss assisted suicide clinic.

Earlier this year the child rapist wrote a letter to seemingly manipulate his way out of a life-long prison sentence via assisted suicide. Vogt’s letter stated that "It would be better to be dead than to be left to vegetate behind these walls…Nobody should have to commit suicide in his cell alone."

Prison officials have now confirmed that assisted suicide should be available to prisoners although the operational procedures have still to be confirmed.

Mr Robinson said: "Permitting assisted suicide is fundamentally wrong and perversely creates a scenario where some prisoners choose to die whilst European nations uphold strong prohibitions on the death penalty for other prisoners".