Set record because it airs tonight.
In April 2015, Gail O’Rorke was acquitted of three counts of assisting in the suicide of her friend Bernadette Forde.
Forde died by suicide in 2011 after taking a lethal dose of barbiturates that were ordered by O’Rorke from Mexico.
As you may know, O’Rorke was the first person to be prosecuted and acquitted under the Criminal Law (Suicide) Act 1993 which decriminalised suicide but made it an offence to assist another to end their life.
Bernadette Forde had been suffering from multiple sclerosis for a decade and had decided to take her own life.
At the time of her prosecution, three charges were made against O’Rorke; ordering the drugs which Forde would take to kill herself, helping to arrange her funeral in advance; and planning a trip to Zurich – Forde had hoped to die in a Swiss euthanasia clinic.
Ultimately, Forde’s plan to travel to Switzerland was thwarted when the travel agent that the booking was made through had alerted the Gardaí.
In tonight’s episode of Finné – the brand-new documentary series commissioned by TG4 which documents the big Irish stories that have made the headlines over the past 50 years – the filmmakers will tell Gail O’Rorke’s story.
The documentary airs at 21.30 on TG4 tonight – Wednesday 12 September – and here’s a small look at how O’Rorke mentally prepared herself ahead of her appearance in court.
Clip via magamedia
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