Third party with suicide victim, says friend

A woman accused of helping her friend take her own life told gardaí that another person was with the deceased when she took a lethal dose of barbiturates.

Bernadette Forde, 51, a former human resources manager with Guinness, took her life in June 2011 using the drug pentobarbital when she was suffering from the latter stages of multiple sclerosis.

Gail O’Rorke, aged 43, a taxi driver from Kilclare Gardens, Tallaght, has pleaded not guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to aiding and abetting the suicide of Ms Forde by helping her to procure and administer a toxic substance between April 20, 2011 and June 6, 2011 in Dublin.