![\"Lady](\"https:\/\/exitinternational.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/Lady-Lucan-in-the-Mirror-620x504.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nAt the workshops, they hear how the drugs they need can be found on Amazon and eBay, and learn to use anonymous email on the \u201cdark web\u201d to stay off the radar of police.<\/p>\n
We even heard of desperate elderly folk in Jamaica said to have paid hitmen to end their lives \u2013 so their suicide could look like murder.<\/p>\n
And one Exit member who told us she believed assisted suicide would eventually become legal in the UK added the chilling prophecy: \u201cBut not in my lifetime.\u201d<\/p>\n
We launched our probe amid the ongoing debate around assisting suicide, which in the UK can carry a jail sentence of up to 14 years.<\/p>\n
Yet a report by charity Dignity in Dying recently revealed that more than half of Brits would consider ending their life at Dignitas in Switzerland if they were terminally ill.<\/p>\n
The global advocacy group believes anyone of sound mind should have the right to plan their own death.<\/p>\n
UK courts have handled a number of high-profile cases in the last three years of alleged involvement in a loved one\u2019s suicide.<\/p>\n
Lady Lucan\u2019s link to Exit International emerged in reports during her inquest at Westminster coroner\u2019s court last month.<\/p>\n
The 80-year-old widow of fugitive Lord Lucan committed suicide in September, after wrongly self-diagnosing Parkinson\u2019s disease.<\/p>\n
After her death, Exit founder Dr Philip Nitschke tweeted a photo of her, writing: \u201cMore tangible evidence of the benefit of<\/p>\n
Exit International mem\u00ad\u00adbership and Peaceful Pill workshop attendance.\u201d Peaceful Pill is the name of the group\u2019s $85 suicide e-handbook.<\/p>\n
The group, which claims to have 20,000 members, charges $100 a year for membership\u2013 or, bizarrely, a $1,000 \u201clifetime\u201d fee.<\/p>\n
Founded by Dr Nitschke in 1997, it claims to differ from other such organisations in its belief that a person\u2019s right to decide on their own death should not revolve only around their medical condition. It says most of its members, average age 75, are the \u201cwell elderly\u201d. A minority are seriously ill.<\/p>\n
In Exit\u2019s discussion forums, its handbook, and at its regular meetings, suicide methods and their practicality are freely discussed.<\/p>\n
Our undercover reporter attended a gathering last month after obtaining membership.<\/p>\n
Around 40 others were at the meeting at Dragon Hall, in London\u2019s Covent Garden. Most in attendance were over 60.<\/p>\n
Lady Lucan was said to be unafraid of dying but did not want to be a burden.<\/p>\n
Gail O\u2019Rorke, who in 2015 was acquitted of assisting the suicide of friend Bernadette Forde, told the meeting: \u201cAlthough it was the most terrifying thing I went through, it was the proudest thing.\u201d<\/p>\n
She appeared alongside Exit spokes\u00ad\u00adman Tom Curran, whose partner Marie Fleming was denied the right to end her own life in a court ruling prior to her death in 2013.<\/p>\n
Mr Curran openly admits helping dozens of people to plan their death.<\/p>\n
Outlining his checklist for recommending suicide methods, he said they should be \u201creadily available, peaceful to use \u2013 so you don\u2019t have to have a science degree or be an engineer \u2013 and quick.\u201d<\/p>\n
One member told how, once medically-assisted suicide became legal in Washington State in 2009, other right-to-die issues were soon up for discussion.<\/p>\n
Mr Curran responded: \u201cPeople warned [it would be] a slippery slope. We\u2019ll provide the grease.\u201d<\/p>\n
While the law around assisted suicide was made clear at the three-hour talk, speakers also pointed out loopholes.<\/p>\n
Advice was given on obtaining killer concoctions, including one used by vets overseas which can be purchased from Mexico, Peru, China and India.<\/p>\n
Mr Curran, based in Arklow in the Rep\u00ad\u00adublic of Ireland, told how one Mexican supplier has a three-month backlog of orders.<\/p>\n
He explained: \u201cWe\u2019re not in the business of distributing drugs, we\u2019d end up in jail.\u201d<\/p>\n
But he hinted European suppliers may offer a \u201cdelivery\u201d service.<\/p>\n
And he warned members to place orders using the \u201cdark web\u201d \u2013anonymous websites whose users are almost impossible to track \u2013 and to pay using the cyber currency BitCoin .<\/p>\n
He added: \u201cThere is almost everything on the internet if you look hard enough.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Curran also talked of suicide \u00adtechnology proposed by NuTech, a firm co-founded by Dr Nitschke.<\/p>\n
Last year it unveiled plans for its \u201cSarco\u201d suicide pod for people to gas themselves in.<\/p>\n
The blueprint to make one on a 3D printer could be available online within months.<\/p>\n
Mr Curran boasted: \u201cAnyone can pull it up, all instructions will be there.\u201d<\/p>\n
But after telling how he had offered a $5,000 prize for suicide innovation, he said he was \u201cvery disappointed\u201d there was \u201cabsolutely nothing new\u201d.<\/p>\n
Members were also warned no one named in their will should be involved in their death as it could make it look like murder.<\/p>\n
Mr Curran added: \u201cIt’s really important not to implicate anyone else.\u201d<\/p>\n
As members mingled later they talked of avoiding a postmortem \u2013 so their death would not be identified as suicide.<\/p>\n
One ex nurse in her 80s told how she never wanted to end up in hospital, saying: \u201cOnce in the hands of doctors, you\u2019re theirs. They\u2019re meant to save you\u201d.<\/p>\n
Dragon Hall said: \u201cThe hall was hired for a meeting. Police advised us it\u2019s legal.\u201d<\/p>\n
We help people take control of life.<\/p>\n
Exit International coordinator Tom Curran says he was \u201cnot aware\u201d Lady Lucan had attended meetings, but said: \u201cMy opinion is the same as for anyone else \u2013 that it\u2019s a right.<\/p>\n
\u201cA person\u2019s life is their own and they have a right to end it, providing they\u2019re capable of rational decisions.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said of Exit\u2019s workshops: \u201cWe don\u2019t encourage anybody to make any decision. But we feel they can\u2019t do so unless they have the facts.\u201d<\/p>\n
And he insisted they do not point out loopholes, but put all such information in their Peaceful Pill handbook.<\/p>\n
He added: \u201cPeople want to take complete control themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
On most days it is a community centre that rings with the joys of life, as noisy kids take part in after-school clubs. But on this particular afternoon, those gathered here seek only peace. At times, it is so quiet you could hear a needle drop. This is Exit International, the secretive suicide club which […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n