Woman supplied gas to help best friend commit suicide, court hears

Milly Caller, 22, is thought to be one of the youngest people to go on trial in Britain charged with assisting a suicide

Milly Caller (right) is charged with assisting Emma Crossman's (left) suicide (Facebook)

A woman helped her best friend to kill herself - exchanging messages with her over social media in the days and hours before her death - in an act of “misguided loyalty”, a court heard.

Milly Caller, 22, had become “obsessed and infatuated” with Emma Crossman to the extent that she supplied her with the gas she eventually used to kill herself in January last year.

A jury at Lincoln Crown Court heard that Ms Caller, who had met her friend while the pair were teenagers, had sent 21-year-old Ms Crossman a text telling her she felt she had killed her after providing the gas. In another message, Ms Caller mused about the pair having an outing together - “best friends having [a] final fun day”.

Ms Caller, who denies charges of encouraging or assisting her friend to take her life, is thought to be one of the youngest people to go on trial in Britain charged with assisting a suicide.

Prosecutors said there was no dispute that Ms Caller had supplied the gas used by Ms Crossman. But the court heard the defendant was denying the charge on the basis that she had not believed her friend would go through with the deed.

Mark McKone, prosecuting, said: “The prosecution say that Amelia Caller assisted [Ms Crossman] in her suicide by supplying her with the gas in an act of misguided loyalty.

He added: “Amelia Caller was obsessed and infatuated with Emma and would do anything for her.”

The downward spiral that culminated in Miss Crossman taking her life had begun four to six weeks before her death after her relationship with her partner, a 56-year-old man, had ended.

The court heard that the young woman had had a troubled past with a history of depression, self-harm and tablet overdoses. Ms Crossman was badly affected by relationship breakdowns and the defendant had been particularly spending time with her following the ending of her most recent love affair, the jury was told.

A series of messages were exchanged over Facebook and via mobile phone between the two in the days leading up to the suicide, during which Ms Caller had supplied the gas by buying it online. The court heard the Ms Caller had in previous years bought her friend expensive presents as a show of affection towards her.

In one text, Ms Caller said: “I’m losing my best mate. I do understand why you are doing it and I do stand by you but it still hurts. I am sorry.”

The prosecution alleges that the frequency and content of the messages, including the suggestion of a “final fun day”, showed that Ms Caller was encouraging her friend.

Mr McKone: “The sequence of events leading up to the suicide speak for themselves.”

Emma Crossman, right, and her friend Milly Caller. Ms Crossman died of suffocation (Facebook)

The court heard that the messaging had continued until the night of Ms Crossman’s death with the 21-year-old explaining what she was doing to end her life. In one of her final messages, Ms Crossman asks her friend to take care of her cat, Tia. Ms Caller replied: “She’ll be looked after always.”

Jurors were told it was the defendant who had found Ms Crossman’s body at her home in the town of Sleaford, Lincolnshire, on the morning of 15 January last year. She had died of suffocation.

Ms Crossman left an apparent suicide note in the room but it did not mention Ms Caller, the prosecution said. The note ended: “Goodbye for now everyone. I love you all.”

The dead woman’s mother told the court that her daughter had had problems with bullying at school and begun self-harming at the age of 12, when she was referred for treatment with a local mental health service.

Sharon Parr said her daughter, who was diagnosed with depression in her late teens, had generally got on better with male friends and Ms Caller had been her only real female friend. The court heard that the defendant had been “very loving” towards Ms Crossman, buying her expensive gifts and giving her money.

Despite taking an overdose of a pain killer in 2013, Ms Crossman had not wanted to kill herself and such actions were a cry for attention, Mrs Parr said.

The court heard that Ms Crossman had sometimes talked to her mother about not wanting to be alive but she had not thought it was meant.

Mrs Parr said: “Not in a million years did Emma want to die.”

Jurors were told that Miss Crossman was still in love with her former partner at the time of her death and her mother was concerned she was drinking too much in the weeks before her death.

But Mrs Parr said her daughter had once told her: “I assure you I would never take my own life because I haven’t got the guts.”

The trial, which is expected to last seven days, continues.

The final text messages and Facebook postings

* Amelia Caller to Emma Crossman: "I'm losing my best mate. I do understand why you are doing it and I do stand by you but it still hurts. I am sorry."

* Ms Caller asks for one last day out - "best friends having [a] final fun day"

* On the night of her death, Ms Crossman texts Ms Caller explaining what she is doing and how she is feeling before asking if she will look after her cat. Ms Caller replies: "She'll be looked after always."

* The last line of an apparent suicide note from Ms Crossman says: "Goodbye for now everyone. I love you all."