Ex-model jailed for letting friend die in ‘suicide pact’
A FORMER pole dancer who made a suicide pact with a postman she met online only to flee at the last moment leaving him to die alone was yesterday jailed for four years.
Former model Natasha Gordon, 44, persuaded Matthew Birkinshaw, 31, to take his life in a pre-Christmas pact while the pair chatted on a suicide forum.
She told him: “I really can’t wait to go tomorrow – hope you don’t change your mind.”
Mr Birkinshaw drove 90 miles from his home in Walsall to her house in Peterborough the next day. Together they drove to Rutland Water where, in a quiet lay-by, he started the process that would lead to their deaths.
Poisoning
But unlike Mr Birkinshaw the former “glamour girl” never intended to commit suicide and had even taken her dog with her.
Gordon, who had discussed suicide plans with at least six other people online, walked out on him, strolling to a hotel where she was picked up by police.
They had been tipped off by her worried boyfriend who had received a text from her saying she was going to kill herself.
She failed to tell officers that Mr Birkinshaw was dying just a third of a mile away, instead waiting until she got home on the night of December 17, 2015.
By the time police reached Mr Birkinshaw 90 minutes later, he was dead from carbon monoxide poisoning.
Gordon denied encouraging Mr Birkinshaw to take his life but was convicted by a jury at Leicester Crown Court last month.
Gordon’s week-long trial heard she had been active on several suicide forums and was an “enthusiastic advocate” of people taking their lives.
Timothy Cray, prosecuting, said: “She regularly advertised, apparently seeking a suicide partner, and has made arrangements with a number of different persons.”
Gordon was even messaging two other men while police were searching for Mr Birkinshaw.
The court heard Mr Birkinshaw had a “loving family, wide circle of friends and a steady girlfriend”.
His mother Margaret, 62, said: “He was full of fun, laughter, love and intelligence, with everything to live for but with a sensitivity which sometimes made life difficult for him and the misfortune to meet someone who wanted to do him harm when he most needed kindness and support.”