So when, after a lengthy battle against aggressive bowel cancer robbed him of the ability to do the things he loved, he asked his family to do something for him.

Just a few days shy of his 81st birthday, Mr Stratton decided he was ready to die.

He and his late wife had been long term supporters of voluntary euthanasia and members of Dying with Dignity.

On May 24 this year, Mr Stratton went to his GP and asked for a suicide pill. Dying on his own terms was something he had wanted for a long time, so she wasn't surprised.

But when the doctor told him the paperwork would take up to two weeks, he told the doctor he'd do it himself.

The side-effects from Mr Stratton's chemotherapy meant he was unable to load his gun himself, and pulling the trigger was impossible.

Sitting on a chair on his verandah, he asked his 54-year-old son Glenn to help him. Initially he refused.

"Don't make me make a bloody mess of it, I can't do it by myself," he told the middle of his three children.

Glenn told him he loved him, and his father replied likewise. He counted down, closed his eyes and then he was gone.

"The psychological pressure on you must have been enormous," Victorian Supreme Court Justice Elizabeth Hollingworth said on Wednesday.

She said Colin Stratton had always been there when his family needed him and in return they would have done anything for him.

"You finally pulled the trigger spontaneously out of love and respect for his wishes," Justice Hollingworth said.

His family are highly supportive of him and his actions. In statements supporting Glenn they described their love and admiration for the senior Mr Stratton, who was an important and influential person in their lives.

"They also understand how important it was for him to be able to end his life on his own terms when the pain and burden of illness became too great for him," Justice Hollingworth said.

"They describe your actions in helping your father achieve his wish as loving, courageous and selfless."

Glenn Stratton confessed his actions to police and was initially charged with murder.

He spent 46 days behind bars, missing his father's funeral.

He pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting his father's suicide.

Justice Hollingworth said there would be no benefit to him or society to jail him further for his actions.

She convicted him and ordered him instead to undergo counselling.

Mr Stratton's family say they hope voluntary euthanasia will become more accessible so other families don't have to go through what they have.

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Australian Associated Press