Diane Pretty dies

Diane Pretty - who lost a legal battle for her husband to help her commit suicide - has died, family members announced today.

Mrs Pretty, 43, from Luton, Bedfordshire, died at a hospice near her home at 4.25pm yesterday, said husband Brian.

The mother-of-two, who suffered from motor neurone disease, had begun experiencing breathing difficulties ten days ago, just three days after she lost her right-to-die court challenge.

Mrs Pretty, who fought a legal case to the highest court in the land and then to the European Court of Human Rights, had always said she wanted her husband to help her commit suicide because she feared the choking and asphyxia often caused by her disease.

Mr Pretty said: ‘‘Diane had to go through the one thing she had foreseen and was afraid of - and there was nothing I could do to help.’’