Edward Downes "serious health problems" suffered by the couple. A statement issued by the couple's children said that while Downes could have gone on living with his deafness and blindness, he did not want to do so after his wife was diagnosed with terminal cancer. In March 2010, Keir Starmer (director of public prosecutions) stated that Caractacus Downes would not be prosecuted for his involvement with his parents' assisted suicide because it was not in the public interest. Edward Downes Sir Edward Thomas ("Ted") Downes, CBE (17 June 1924 – 10 July 2009) was an English conductor, specialising in opera. He was
Sir Edward O'Brien, 2nd Baronet Sir Edward O'Brien, 2nd Baronet Sir Edward O'Brien, 2nd Baronet (7 April 1705 – 26 November 1765) was an Irish politician and baronet. Born in England in 1705, he was the eldest surviving child of Lucius O'Brien (1675-1717) and Catherine Keightley (1676- c. 1733) and was the grand-son of Sir Donough O'Brien. He would be followed by a younger brother Thomas and two sisters Anne and Lucia, who both died as children. His maternal grandmother, Lady Frances Keightley (née Hyde) was the sister of Anne Hyde, duchess of York who in turn was the mother of Queen Mary II and