THE wife of a man who fought a public battle to be given the right to die has pledged to help push through assissted suicide legislation in Scotland.

Jane Nicklinson, whose husband, Tony, died in August after losing a landmark case, said she was proud to continue his legacy by backing MSP Margo Macdonald's bill.

If successful, Scotland could become the first part of the UK to legalise assisted dying for certain categories of patient.

Jane, 57, a former nurse from Melksham, Wiltshire, hopes the rest of Britain and Northern Ireland will follow suit. She said: "Tony had no dignity left. He told me he used to dread the door opening and the carers coming in. They were a daily reminder of what he could no longer do.

"When the doctors told him he would die without antibiotics I could see the relief on his face. He said to me, 'Imagine your worst nightmare and multiply it by 10 and you are not even close'."