A woman suffering from multiple sclerosis is facing the “dilemma” of when to take steps to kill herself or whether to wait until she needs help from her husband and risk his prosecution, the High Court was told yesterday.

Debbie Purdy is seeking a landmark ruling to clarify the law on assisted suicide, which is prohibited in Britain.

David Pannick, QC, appearing for Ms Purdy, 45, from Bradford, told the two judges: “Her wish is to be able to ask for and receive assistance to end her life should living it become unbearable for her.”

That assistance might mean her husband taking her to Switzerland, or possibly Belgium, where assisted suicide is lawful, he said. “Her dilemma is that she wants to delay her suicide as long as possible. She wants also to avoid the danger of her husband being prosecuted for assisting her.”

Ms Purdy, hand in hand with her husband, the Cuban jazz violinist Omar Puente, listened as Mr Pannick added: “If he is likely to be prosecuted, then she is much more likely to travel abroad to commit suicide sooner rather than later.”

In a television interview before the case began, Ms Purdy accused the Director of Public Prosecutions, Sir Ken Macdonald, of “cowardice” in refusing to clarify the circumstances in which a prosecution would be considered.

Mr Pannick accused the DPP of breaching Ms Purdy’s right to respect for her personal and family life under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights by failing to publish a policy making clear the circumstances in which he would, or would not, allow a prosecution to proceed.

Although no one has been prosecuted so far for helping someone to travel abroad to die, Mr Pannick asked Lord Justice Scott Baker and Mr Justice Aikens to rule that the law required more information to be published.

Lawyers for the DPP said that the clear legal provisions of the Suicide Act 1961, which make aiding and abetting suicide punishable with up to 14 years in prison, provide sufficient information when coupled with the guidance contained in the Code for Crown Prosecutors.

Lord Justice Scott Baker commented that Parliament had said that aiding and assisting suicide was a criminal offence. “It seems to me that it is something of a grey area between whether it is Parliament’s province, if it is minded to do so, to narrow the offence - and the DPP doing it by the back door.”

Before entering court Ms Purdy, who fully expects that the time will come when she wants to end her life, said that she and her husband were desperate to clarify the law so that they could get the best out of the time left together.“What we want to do is live. We want to argue and fight – be a normal couple. We don’t want to have to go on worrying about what will happen in the future.”

The judges gave the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children permission to intervene in the case and submit a written statement in which it said that Ms Purdy’s campaign would “serve to undermine vulnerable people”.

The case continues.

I want to choose when the quality of my life is no longer adequate

Debbie Purdy: Extracts from witness statement

I was born in London on May 4, 1963 and now live in Bradford, West Yorkshire, with my husband, Omar. Before I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, I was living in Singapore working as a freelance music journalist and writing adventure travel brochures.

I returned to the UK over the Christmas period in 1994. I was diagnosed with primary progressive multiple sclerosis on March 21, 1995 by a neurologist at the age of 31.

Although diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, I returned to Singapore in about April 1995. By 1997 I began to find it too difficult to cope with my nomadic life and I decided to return to the UK permanently. By 2001 I was permanently using a wheelchair and finding everyday tasks like showering or cooking more difficult, often impossible, without help. More recently, in 2006, my arms became weaker and self-propelling my wheelchair became more difficult. I take painkillers every day.

I find it difficult to hold my body still and flop around. I have regular physiotherapy to try to use the right muscles and reduce painful spasms. I experience choking fits. I am beginning to lose the ability to do many things for myself.

There is no known cure for multiple sclerosis and nor is it possible to diagnose with any accuracy the rate of deterioration. The disease affects people in different ways . . . What, however, is known is that no medication can stop the tide of this terrible illness. My wish is to be able to ask for and receive assistance to end my life, should living it become unbearable for me. I wish to be able to make the decision to end my life while I am physically able to do so.

My husband has said that he would assist me, and if necessary face a prison sentence, but I am not prepared to put him in this position. I love him and do not want him to risk ending up in prison. As he is black and a foreigner, I do not want him to get into trouble as a consequence of helping me.

I want to make a choice about when the quality of my life is no longer adequate and to die a dignified death. This decision is of my own making.

Having to go to another country will be adding to my own grief and distress and also to the pain that my husband will have to go through. I hope that one day the law will recognise that this is inhumane.

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