A Dutch court has convicted a man for helping at least 10 people take their own lives by selling them deadly “suicide drugs” and instructions for their use, in what has been seen as the latest test case for Dutch ‘right-to-die’ policies.

The man, identified only as Alex S. in line with Dutch privacy guidelines, sold the drugs to more than 1,600 people before police arrested him. He first bought the drugs online for himself, East Brabant District Court said in a written verdict.

“He is convinced that every person has the right to decide about their own life and believes that government policy in this area falls short,” the court said.

While the Netherlands was the first nation to legalise euthanasia in 2002, assisted suicide, the practice of someone who is not a physician providing a person with a self-administered lethal substance, remains illegal.

Since then the numbers availing of it have increased, and the grounds for accessing it have expanded.