Suicide pact student faced questions over friend’s death
Lara Nosiru leapt from the Clifton Suspension Bridge while under the influence of drugs, inquest hears
A BRISTOL University student who had discussed a suicide pact with her friend was interviewed over “assisting” the woman’s death after she jumped from a bridge, an inquest heard.
Lara Nosiru, 23, who died in January, had previously discussed suicide methods with fellow student Kasumi Kishi, and the pair had talked about killing themselves together.
They travelled to the Clifton Suspension Bridge shortly before 4pm on January 30, where Ms Nosiru fell. Ms Kishi later told police that she hoped to convince Ms Nosiru not to kill herself and had made her promise not to jump.
CCTV footage showed the two women walking across the bridge shortly before 4pm on January 30 with Ms Nosiru occasionally stopping and looking over the edge.
When they reached the North Somerset side she twice tried to climb on to the wall above the gorge edge but Ms Kishi pulled her back down. The two women then appeared to have a minor disagreement before Ms Kishi walked away and left her without looking back.
The security cameras showed Ms Nosiru having a final cigarette before climbing on to the wall and falling to her death.
A coroner heard that Ms Kishi, who no longer lives in the UK, was interviewed by police about “possible criminal offences being committed”.
The CPS reviewed the case to see if charges of assisting in suicide or manslaughter by gross negligence could be brought against Ms Kishi but found no case to answer.
A coroner ruled that she had no direct involvement in her friend’s death and said the final year neuroscience student took her life while under the influence of drugs.
Peter Harrowing, Avon and Somerset coroner, heard that Ms Nosiru was “acting strange” on the day she died after taking LSD she had bought at a discount on her birthday.
She thought her hands were melting and was restless, saying every time she sat down she just wanted to get up again, her flatmates said in statements.
She was hallucinating and seen trying to “stamp” on people who she thought were on her bedroom floor.
Ms Kishi went to see her and they spent about 45 minutes together in her bedroom before going to the bridge in a taxi at about 3.30pm.
The inquest heard that Ms Nosiru had suffered from depression for four years and took an overdose the night before her death. Psychotherapist Niklas Serning said he had seen her every week for a year and she was “extremely bright” and would discuss the meaning of life. He told the coroner: “She reported
‘She reported to me she had tried to kill herself. New Year and Christmas was a very sensitive time for her’
to me she had tried to kill herself. New Year and Christmas was a very sensitive time for her.”
Dr Serning said Ms Nosiru, of South Ockenden, Essex, wanted to give life “another try” and asked him to “make my life meaningful again”.
He said he last saw his patient on the morning of her death, when she said was very tired but didn’t appear to be on drugs. She booked a session for the following week and joked with him about his age. Asked if there was anything that would have made him think she was going to take her own life, he said: “Absolutely not.”
Dr Harrowing said Ms Kishi was not directly involved in the death and Ms Nosiru had taken a “deliberate action” to jump. But he said he couldn’t be sure beyond reasonable doubt that she had the mental intention to take her life that day. He recorded a narrative conclusion, saying: “She took her own life while under the influence of drugs.”