My right to die, by Star Trek Jean-Luc - The Sun

STAR Trek actor Sir Patrick Stewart has called for the right to an assisted suicide if he ever falls gravely ill.

The thespian, 70 - who plays Captain Jean-Luc Picard - revealed: "A lot of it has to do with my age. I had a heart procedure five years ago."

He was also shattered by a relative's illness and a woman friend "driven to an extreme situation of ending their life in the most ghastly way".

Sir Patrick declared: "I would like there to be a choice I might make about how I die."

He told how he has now become a patron of pressure group Dignity In Dying, which is campaigning for a right-to-die law.

The star spoke out amid fury at a BBC documentary that will show a terminally ill man's last moments at a Swiss suicide clinic.

Dignity In Dying backed the broadcast, saying it was "irresponsible not to discuss this issue".