A TOTNES woman who tried to end her husband's life in a mercy killing more than a decade ago has taken the same way out herself.

Vicki Wood (pictured), who lived in Totnes and Harbertonford, travelled to Switzerland where she ended her life with the aid of the assisted suicide organisation Dignitas on Friday.

The 67-year-old toy maker and artist became a nationally-known figure after she was put on probation for attempting to kill her husband Tim at their Harbertonford home in 1998 and then banned from ever being alone with him again.

The couple were known in the town for the complicated automata they made and displayed in Mrs Wood's shop and studio in Totnes High Street.

One of their pieces is still on display in Totnes Guildhall after she presented it to the town when she left Totnes in 2002.

Today, the then mayor of Totnes Marion Adams said she was saddened by Mrs Wood's death but not surprised she had taken the assisted suicide way out.

Mrs Adams knew Mrs Wood and her husband who would attend art classes in Dartington while suffering from dementia.

"I knew the shop in Totnes and I knew them," she said. "She was a lovely lady and he was a deary. I lost track of her when she left Totnes.

"I knew she was worried about dementia herself when she saw her husband go like that. I am sorry she has died because she was lovely and really talented.

"They both made wonderful things. They were a very talented couple and it is very sad."

Mr Wood was a teacher at the Britannia Royal Naval College in Dartmouth and Mrs Wood was a potter in London before she moved to Dartmouth where they met.

They were living in Yorkshire when her husband was diagnosed with dementia and they moved to Totnes before moving to a converted chapel in Harbertonford.

Mrs Wood opened a shop called Number 7 just above the East Gate arch in Totnes which doubled as a workshop/flat and gallery and she was a member of the Bovey Tracey-based Devon Guild of Craftsmen.

By 1999 Mr Wood was being cared for in a nursing home in Totnes but was staying at their Harbertonford home when Mrs Wood fed him sleeping pills and then attempted to smother him as she played his favourite music.

The attempt failed as Mr Wood fought back and then fell out of bed. Mrs Wood herself called an ambulance because she feared her husband had been hurt.

The subsequent court case heard they had both signed 'life wills' declaring they did not wish to continue living if they suffered certain illnesses and asking the other to assist them with suicide if one made that decision.

The case made national headlines as Mrs Wood admitted attempting to murder her husband and walked free from court after being put on probation for two years as the judge said it was in nobody's interest that she be jailed.

After the hearing she was told she could never be alone with her husband again and social services began moves to obtain guardianship rights over him.

But that was called off after Mrs Wood launched a legal fight to be his carer which she won with the aid of Totnes MP Anthony Steen.

On hearing the news of Mrs Wood's death Mr Steen said: "I'm very sorry Mrs Wood felt it was the only option left to her. I met her several times and was greatly impressed by her determination and conviction. I visited her late husband in a nursing home when he had advanced Alzheimer's and was unable to recognise his wife or do anything for himself — it was quite heartbreaking.

"This is a very sad ending to two tragic stories."

Not long after the court hearing Mr Wood broke his leg, contracted pneumonia and died a few months later.

Yesterday, a family friend said Mrs Wood had led a 'bountiful life' and added: "She was a seeker of new experiences, a pioneer gallery owner, an enthusiastic collector, a loving wife and an enviable godmother. She has left her sensitively converted chapel at Harbertonford in Devon indelibly marked with her presence.

"Vicki has touched and enriched the lives of so many of her friends and fellow makers. She leaves a gap which will only be partially filled by the works she has left behind.

"For those of us who are lucky enough to remember her bright, questioning eyes and her warm, intelligent smile she has passed on something of immeasurable good."