Debbie Purdy, 45, from Bradford, West Yorkshire, wanted to know if her husband, the Cuban violinist Omar Puente, would be prosecuted if he helped her travel to die in a country where it is legal. Under British law, aiding and abetting suicide is a criminal offence punishable by up to 14 years in prison.
But the appeal judges rejected Purdy’s claim that lack of proper guidance infringed her Article 8 right to private and family life under the European convention on human rights.
They said that there was “ample material” already available to enable her legal advisers to assess how likely a prosecution might be – and said that a court would most likely take the view that a prison sentence would be inappropriate punishment for the crime.
