Noël Martin (1959 – 14 July 2020) was a Jamaican-born British man, victim of a

neo-Nazi Neo-Nazism comprises the post–World War II militant, social, and political movements that seek to revive and reinstate Nazism, Nazi ideology. Neo-Nazis employ their ideology to promote hatred and Supremacism#Racial, racial supremacy (ofte ...

attack in 1996. On 16 June 1996 in

Brandenburg Brandenburg, officially the State of Brandenburg, is a States of Germany, state in northeastern Germany. Brandenburg borders Poland and the states of Berlin, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony. It is the List of Ger ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, he was attacked because of his dark skin by neo-Nazis. A block of concrete was thrown through the windshield of his car and his car veered off the road and struck a tree. Martin became a

quadriplegic Tetraplegia, also known as quadriplegia, is defined as the dysfunction or loss of Motor control, motor and/or Sense, sensory function in the Cervical vertebrae, cervical area of the spinal cord. A loss of motor function can present as either weak ...

as a result of the attack, and required 24-hour care. Having outlived his wife, he announced his intention to seek

assisted suicide Assisted suicide, sometimes restricted to the context of physician-assisted suicide (PAS), is the process by which a person, with the help of others, takes actions to end their life. Once it is determined that the person's situation qualifie ...

, to take place in Berlin, as a result. His first announcement, in 2006, set 23 June 2007 as the date of his suicide. As of December 2007 he had made arrangements with a doctor through the

Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...

organization Dignitas. A

documentary film A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

about Martin, ''The Finishing Line'', directed and produced by Estephan Wagner, was due to be shown on

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

in August 2009. However, Martin objected to the inclusion of two scenes (referred to in court as the "hoisting" and "song" scenes), and sought an

injunction An injunction is an equitable remedy in the form of a special court order compelling a party to do or refrain from doing certain acts. It was developed by the English courts of equity but its origins go back to Roman law and the equitable rem ...

against Channel 4 preventing them from broadcasting it. In November 2009, Mr Justice Eady rejected Martin's application. Martin died on 14 July 2020, at the age of 60.

References

External links

German article in the

Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung The (; ''FAZ''; "Frankfurt General Newspaper") is a German newspaper founded in 1949. It is published daily in Frankfurt and is considered a newspaper of record for Germany. Its Sunday edition is the ''Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung'' ( ...

* 1959 births 2020 deaths English people of Jamaican descent Hate crimes Euthanasia in the United Kingdom Neo-Nazi attacks in Germany People with tetraplegia {{UK-crime-bio-stub