Body parts sale man avoids jail

[okarol]

Body parts sale man avoids jail

Friday, 11 May 2007

A debt-ridden salesman who tried to sell one of his own kidneys over the internet has been given a 12-month suspended jail sentence.

Daniel Tuck, from Oldbury, West Midlands, is the first person to be successfully prosecuted under a new law preventing the sale of body parts.

The 26-year-old tried to sell his kidney for £24,000 on a chatroom used by kidney disease sufferers.

The judge suspended his sentence for two years and ordered him to pay £250.

He had faced up to three years in jail for contravening the Human Tissue Act.

   I want to sell my kidney - this is 100% genuine. I am a white male of completely perfect health.
Daniel Tuck's advert

Tuck had previous convictions for theft and obtaining property by deception.

Judge Challinor said: "There is much public disquiet surrounding the sale of body parts for money and there is an understandable revulsion at such practices.

"A sentence incorporating an element of deterrence is required."

Helena Miller, prosecuting, said Tuck admitted a charge of offering to supply human material for transplantation last month.

He had posted an advert on the internet which read: "I am a healthy 25-year-old male from Birmingham in England. I am blood group O+ and am desperate for funds to rebuild my life.

"I want to sell my kidney - this is 100% genuine. I am a white male of completely perfect health. Why risk getting a kidney from a Third World country?"

'Gambling regularly'

He was questioned by police after meeting a reporter from the Sunday Mercury newspaper in May 2006 and agreeing a price for the kidney, she said.

During the meeting Tuck confirmed he knew the sale of organs in the United Kingdom was illegal.

When he was arrested in June he told police he had recently split with his girlfriend and was £25,000 in debt.

"He said he wasn't thinking straight," Ms Miller said. "He said he put the advert on the site to see what would happen."

Jas Mann, defending, said his client had been a broken man at the time of the offence and did not intend to go through with his proposal. He said Tuck was gambling on a regular basis and "pumped" his earnings into fruit machines.

A spokesman for the Human Tissue Authority, set up under the new Act to take action against organ trafficking, said: "It is an offence to give or receive a reward for the supply or offer of human material for transplantation."

A spokesman for the Crown Prosecution Service said: "Any advertisement to sell human organs is a criminal offence and, where there is sufficient evidence and it is in the public interest, the CPS will prosecute these cases."
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/uk_news/england/west_midlands/6646467.stm
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[okarol]

Suicide of kidney for sale man

By Rod Chaytor 26/09/2007
THE MIRROR

A man who tried to sell his kidney to clear massive gambling debts has been found hanged.

Dan Tuck, 26, was the first person charged under the Human Tissue Act 2004 after he admitted advertising it for £25,000.

The fruit machine addict had racked up a £25,000 debt and posted a desperate advert on the internet.

In May a jury at Wolverhampton crown court heard Tuck had made many suicide bids and was "emotionally broken" when he posted the ad.

He was given a 12 month suspended jail sentence, 120 hours' community service and two years' supervision.

Judge Chapman told Tuck: "I regard you as a thoroughly dishonest individual intent on making money."

He accused Tuck of "preying on the misfortune of others".

The former salesman was found dead at home in Langley, near Oldbury, West Mids, on Friday.

Tuck's family declined to comment last night.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/topstories/2007/09/26/suicide-of-kidney-for-sale-man-89520-19848305/