A Secret Service agent assigned to Jill Biden shot himself in the leg while escorting the former first lady through Philadelphia airport.

The agent shot himself in the leg just after 8.30am Friday while on an assignment to protect Biden, a Secret Service spokesman said.

He suffered a non-life-threatening injury after what the federal agency described as a ‘negligent discharge while handling a service weapon.’

Biden was not present at the time of the shooting and her movements were not impacted by the incident, the spokesman added. 

The officer is currently being evaluated at a nearby hospital and is in a stable condition. No other injuries were reported. 

‘The Secret Service’s Office of Professional Responsibility will be reviewing the facts and circumstances of this incident,’ Secret Service spokesman Nate Herring said.

‘We are grateful for our law enforcement and public safety partners who provided medical assistance.’

The Daily Mail approached Biden’s spokesman for comment, who referred us back to the Secret Service. 

A police cordon was in place outside of Terminal C at Philadelphia International Airport, by the American Airlines ticketing desk, KYW Radio reported.

Officers were seen surrounding a black Chevy Suburban inside the cordon. The vehicle’s trunk and front passenger-side door were left open.

A medic unit responded to the scene, but then left, followed by a police car.

Security at Philadelphia International Airport has been chaotic this week in wake of the partial government shutdown that has left Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers working without pay.

Multiple TSA checkpoints remained closed Friday as the airport worked to ‘optimize operations’, according to USA Today.

The security checkpoints at terminals A-West, F and C, where the shooting occurred, are reportedly closed. 

Passengers can still fly through the impacted terminals but must pass through security at checkpoints in other terminals.

The lapse in government funding has left TSA working without pay since mid-February. 

The Senate moved to end a budget standoff early Friday and approved Department of Homeland Security (DHS) funds to pay TSA agents, the Coast Guard and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, among other agencies. 

The deal, which the Senate approved unanimously without a roll call, next goes to the House, which could consider it today.

Although Speaker Mike Johnson said he would need to meet with his fellow Republicans first to determine the best way to proceed. Republicans are angry that the entire department was not funded.

With pressure mounting to resolve the 42-day stalemate over funding for Homeland Security, the endgame emerged in the final hours before TSA workers were to miss another paycheck Friday. 

President Donald Trump said he would sign an order to immediately pay the TSA agents, saying he wanted to quickly stop the ‘Chaos at the Airports.’ 

The deal did not include any of the restraints Democrats have demanded as they sought to rein in the Republican president’s mass deportation agenda.

More than 300 TSA workers have quit and unscheduled absences have surged since the shutdown began, leading to extended travel delays and airports struggling to screen travelers.

The federal government began deploying Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to assist in providing security.

The move drew sharp criticism from Democrats, rights activists and some Republicans, who warn ICE personnel are not trained for such work and that it risks escalating tensions in already stressed environments.

Trump, who promised on Thursday to pay airport security officers, previously said he would not sign a funding deal unless Congress also passes a contentious bill to overhaul how citizens register to vote in US elections.

By RORY TINGLE, HOME AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT and CHRIS POLLARD, NEWS REPORTER

Published: 09:51 EDT, 27 March 2026 | Updated: 10:24 EDT, 27 March 2026

An asylum seeker has been jailed for 15 years for abducting and raping a 12-year-old in an attack which sparked protests and allegations of a police cover-up.

Afghan national Ahmad Mulakhil, 23, whose victim said he laughed while attacking her last summer, was found guilty last month of rape and two counts of sexual assault against his child victim in Nuneaton, Warwickshire.

Jurors at Warwick Crown Court also convicted him of child abduction and taking an indecent video of the girl during her ordeal near a residential cul-de-sac. 

He had admitted a further rape charge before his trial.

A 10-day trial earlier this year was told that Mulakhil arrived in the UK four months before the rapes and had made an immigration application linked to ‘problems’ he had experienced in Afghanistan.

But they were not told Mulakhil – who arrived in the UK on a small boat – was an asylum seeker.

Details of the case were first revealed by the Mail on Sunday in August, when police were accused of attempting to cover up the immigration status of both defendants to avoid inflaming racial tensions.

It led to outrage in Nuneaton, with an anti-immigration protest staged in the town centre.

Ahead of sentencing, anti-immigration protesters gathered outside the court with a banner that said: ‘Stop the invasion, end immigration’.

It emerged today that Mulakhil has now been served with Home Office deportation papers.

Prosecutor Daniel Oscroft told the sentencing hearing that the victim was ‘extremely vulnerable’ and had been left with ‘ongoing medical issues and severe flashbacks’ following the attack. 

Passing sentence, Judge Kristina Montgomery KC said: ‘Your victim had only just turned 12 years of age. The jury’s verdict left no doubt you knew she was aged under 16.

‘You led your victim into a cul-de-sac in a residential area, a secluded area out of public view. You and she spent over an hour together and, during that time, you sexually assaulted her.

‘Your victim was particularly vulnerable and she has suffered significant and ongoing psychological harm.’

Mulakhil was told he would serve 15 years in prison and an extra 12 months on licence. 

Marcus Harry, defending, had earlier told the court of Mulakhil’s background before reaching the UK.

‘He left Afghanistan at 22, having spent 12 years at school until the age of 18, he was planning on attending university to study economics, but, for a variety of reasons, he came under the focus of the Taliban, as did his family and that is ultimately why he left that country,’ he said.

‘He leaves behind in Afghanistan his parents, two brothers and three sisters.’

The trial heard that Mulakhil spotted the girl as she played on swings in a park – and was later recorded on a doorbell camera telling her ‘you’re very small’ and asking for her phone number.

Mulakhil told police he believed the girl was 19 and that she had initiated what was his first sexual encounter.

He faced trial alongside Mohammad Kabir, also an asylum seeker from Afghanistan, who was acquitted of charges of intentional strangulation, attempted child abduction and committing an offence with intent to commit a sexual offence.

Kabir, who was 24 according to court documents at the time of the trial but told jurors he was 22, was cleared after maintaining that he never touched the victim and had no sexual intentions towards her.

The victim, who cannot be identified in media reports, told the trial she was approached in a park by both defendants after playing on swings.

Mulakhil took her to a grassy area beside garages at the end of a cul-de-sac, threatened to kill her family and repeatedly raped her, jurors were told.

‘He was saying that he liked me,’ the girl said. ‘I said, “I don’t like you. I’m young. I’m a kid.”‘

In a videotaped statement, the girl said: ‘He was trying to strip my clothes off. He said nothing. He was laughing.

‘I was saying get off me but he didn’t say anything, he just carried on.’

Mulakhil took indecent photos of the youngster during the attack, the court was told.

Shortly after Mulakhil was filmed with the girl buying Red Bull at a convenience store, she saw an opportunity to escape from him and ran away.

She was later found ‘distressed’ and alone in another nearby park by an adult that she knew, who called the police.

Mulakhil’s DNA was found on the girl’s neck and inside her shorts, the court heard.

CCTV evidence showed Mulakhil spent around 80 minutes in the cul-de-sac with the girl.

Mulakhil, who was assisted by a Farsi interpreter in court, admitted to police that he met the girl twice that day and claimed he believed she looked in her twenties – then told jurors he had believed her when she was recorded on a doorbell camera talking to him in a street before the rape when she told him she was 19.

But the prosecutor described it as an ‘obvious lie’, adding: ‘It was clear that from Mr Mulakhil’s reaction, he didn’t believe her.’

He told the court during his opening: ‘The prosecution say that it would be obvious to anyone that she was a very young, vulnerable child.’

Following the conclusion of the trial, the Daily Mail revealed the rapist was tracked down through the Home Office payment card which had been issued in his name.

The cards are given to asylum seekers awaiting a decision to allow them to buy basic items and are topped up with up to £49 each week.

Last month, the Home Office said following Mulakhil’s conviction: ‘We will not allow foreign criminals and illegal migrants to exploit our laws.

‘We are reforming human rights laws and replacing the broken appeals system so we can scale up deportations.

‘The Home Secretary has recently announced sweeping reforms to tackle illegal migration. They will make Britain a less attractive destination for illegal migrants and will make it easier to remove and deport them.’

Mixed picture for oil prices as Trump extends Hormuz deadline by 10 days

Donald Trump has said the US military will halt attacking Iran’s energy infrastructure for another ten days.

The US president made his announcement in a post on Truth Social, saying that he will pause the destruction of Iran’s energy plants until next month following a request from Tehran.

Trump wrote: ‘As per Iranian Government request, please let this statement serve to represent that I am pausing the period of Energy Plant destruction by 10 Days to Monday, April 6, 2026, at 8 P.M., Eastern Time.

‘Talks are ongoing and, despite erroneous statements to the contrary by the Fake News Media and others, they are going very well.’

The move comes ahead of the one-month mark since the US and Israel started the war in Iran by launching airstrikes in Tehran on February 28.

Iran has not yet publicly responded to Trump’s latest announcement.

But Tehran has offered a response to the US president’s earlier 15-point peace plan.

Tasnim, a news agency with links to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, reported that Iran’s conditions include ending ‘aggression and assassination,’ ensuring that the war will not happen again and compensation.

As for the issue of the blockaded Strait of Hormuz causing turmoil to global oil trade, Iran insisted that its sovereignty over the passage is its legal right.

Trump’s latest announcement saw oil prices dip slightly, with Brent crude benchmark reducing by 1.2% to $106.76 per barrel of oil.

Meanwhile, Trump has continued to lash out at US allies despite the tense situation and unhappiness among NATO countries over America’s action in Iran.

The POTUS insulted the UK’s flagship aircraft carriers, HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales, comparing them to ‘toys.’

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

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The Royal Navy has been forced to borrow a German frigate after ‘running out of ships’ – as Donald Trump mocked Britain’s aircraft carriers as ‘toys’.

The destroyer HMS Dragon had been due to lead a Nato mission in the North Atlantic before it was redeployed to Cyprus earlier this month in the wake of the Iran conflict.

The Navy will now lead the Nato deployment using the German frigate FGS Sachsen.

The move came as the US President yesterday took another swipe at Britain’s military, saying UK aircraft carriers ‘aren’t the best’, adding: ‘They’re toys compared to what we have.’

Last night, former top brass branded the Government a ‘bloody disgrace’ while a World War Two Royal Marine veteran raged: ‘Winston Churchill would have sacked the lot of them.’

The criticism comes just weeks after the UK was bailed out by France, Greece and Italy when an Iranian drone hit RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus and not a single British ship was in position to defend it.

It took nearly a month for HMS Dragon to reach the Mediterranean island, igniting calls from Cypriots to remove British bases from their country. 

Now the farce has deepened with the deployment exposing how short the UK’s defensive capabilities are.

As experts called on Labour to get a grip, Defence Secretary John Healey said he was ‘not happy with the situation’ as it ‘takes six years to build a warship’.

Yet despite repeated promises to boost defence spending, it also emerged yesterday that Nato has revised down UK defence spending in its annual report.

General Secretary Mark Rutte published figures that show the UK spent 2.31 per cent of GDP on defence last year, down from a predicted 2.4 per cent.

The report also revised down Britain’s spend for 2024 from an estimated 2.33 per cent of GDP to a final figure of 2.28 per cent.

UK military sources insist there has been no reduction and the drop is caused by changes to GDP, with other nations experiencing similar revisions.

But with anger mounting, former Nato commander General Sir Richard Shirreff told the Daily Mail the latest fiasco with FGS Sachsen ‘sends a bloody awful message’. 

He said: ‘It’s deeply embarrassing and it undermines the sense of what we should be doing as a nation. The Government needs to make sacrifices. We can’t go on ploughing money willy-nilly into welfare. 

‘Labour backbenchers have got to put up and shut up – and Keir Starmer needs to get a grip of his party.’

Royal Marine veteran Doug Cheshire, 102, who served on two battleships and an aircraft carrier in the Second World War, told the Daily Mail: ‘I think it’s a damn disgrace. They ought to be hauled over the coals for it. If Churchill was alive he would sack every one of them. He would be up in the air about the state of the Navy.

‘I’m angry. I’m very upset. After what we went through, for them to get us into this parlous state, to borrow from the Germans to do a job which we should be able to do – they need pinning against the wall for this.’

The German Embassy revealed this week that its frigate will ‘take over from HMS Dragon’ dressing it up as ‘an expression of the close Germany-British relationship’.

British sailors will use the ship to ‘fulfil its leadership role’, the Ministry of Defence confirmed. 

It insisted that it is not uncommon for a Nato group to be commanded from an allied warship and led by Royal Navy battle staff.

But Tory MP and former Army officer Ben Obese-Jecty said it demonstrates the UK has ‘seemingly run out of ships’ and ‘Britannia no longer rules the waves’.

Former First Sea Lord, Admiral Lord West, told the Daily Mail our Nato allies ‘are noticing that we are not the power we once were’.

He said: ‘The Royal Navy was the second most powerful navy in Nato and the most powerful European navy. 

‘You can’t really say that any more. Our American allies already are looking at us and saying, ‘Oh dear, this isn’t the British we’re used to’.’

The Defence Secretary was wheeled onto the airwaves yesterday to defend the latest fiasco. 

Mr Healey told LBC’s Nick Ferrari: ‘The Germans have stepped in to supply their warship… that’s a sign of the strength of the Nato alliance.

‘But I’m not happy with the situation we have with British warships and that’s because it takes six years to build a warship.’ 

But Mr Healey stumbled over his figures when asked how many frigates are at his disposal, wrongly stating: ‘We have 17 frigates and destroyers. It’s down from 23 at the end of the last Labour government.’

In fact, that figure is 13.

An MoD spokesman said: ‘The UK is one of the top defence spenders of all Nato nations and, as these figures show, our spending has increased by almost £9billion since 2023 – a significant real terms increase.

‘We are a leader in the alliance, committing our nuclear deterrent in full to Nato and offering almost all our Armed Forces to Nato on land, in the air and at sea. 

‘We are delivering the largest sustained increase in defence spending since the end of the Cold War and investing £270billion in defence across this Parliament alone.’

A judge told a school fees fraudster who claimed to have anxiety and depression ‘of course you do, you’re a fraudster, that’s an anxiety-making and depressing way to live’ – as he jailed him.  

Gareth Sowter, 51, and Kim Sowter, 46, who had been declared bankrupt, enrolled all four of their sons at the private St Edmund’s College in Ware, Hertfordshire. 

But from 2012 onwards, the pair, who are now divorced, never paid the prestigious school, where fees can be as high as £40,000 a year.

They fobbed off accounts managers pursuing them for the total £106,000 bill for years by insisting they would soon receive a cash windfall from a will. 

When the inherited sum of £208,166 finally arrived in 2020, however, the couple refused to cough up. 

The couple appeared at the Old Bailey in London where Kim Sowter admitted two fraudulent transfers of property and her ex-husband pleaded guilty to eight.

The judge noted medical reports which said Gareth Sowter suffers from anxiety and depression – but dismissed them outright. 

‘I do not wish to sound unsympathetic but of course you do. You have been living the life of a fraudster for years,’ Judge David Jeremy said. 

‘That is an anxiety making and depressing way to live you life. You have brought it all upon yourself.’

He was jailed for 26 months, with the judge telling him he used the money which should have gone to the school to ‘live beyond his means’. 

But his ex-wife avoided prison after she was handed an eight-month sentence suspended for 18 months.

The court heard part of the cash the couple said would be used for paying their children’s school fees was instead spent on a holiday. 

Gareth Sowter, who is a convicted VAT fraudster, also funneled some of the money to family, friends and even one of his teenage sons to protect it from his creditors. 

And more than £15,000 of the total windfall was paid to the solicitors who acted for him in his VAT fraud case, a court heard. 

He had previously carried out a £367,812 VAT fraud over the course of three years. 

Sowter did so by inflating bills and forging bank statements to claim the money back from the taxman for a series of companies he ran. 

In May 2021, he was given a suspended sentence of 24 months for these crimes. 

But it would later emerge he had also been stashing the inheritance money away with family and friends just a month prior. 

He gave £50,000 to his then-wife, who also sent £35,000 to a friend and £3,400 to her son to keep the cash out of the school’s hands. 

Judge Jeremy told him: ‘You had been able to build up a large debt by fobbing off the school with stories of debts that had not been paid and assurances there were monies that were due to come to you.

‘When you were finally able to honour your word and pay the school what it was owed for educating your children you decided not to.

‘Instead you diverted the money to friends and associates in order to keep it to yourself.’

Sowter, from Ware, Hertfordshire, claimed his previous VAT fraud was ‘a poor decision’ – but the judge said: ‘It was not a poor decision.

‘It was a long-term choice made over years to live well beyond your means, because as the pre-sentence report on you says you have a deep sense of entitlement.

‘You also have a willingness to be dishonest to satisfy that sense of entitlement.

‘Your sense of entitlement meant you thought you had a right to the finer things in life, even if you could not afford them.’

Judge Jeremy said fee-paying schools are ‘a soft touch for unscrupulous parents’. 

This is because, he explained, they operate on the basis of trust and are desperate not to expel children for non-payment of fees. 

‘The victim is not just the school. It is all the honest hard working parents who often make huge sacrifices to send their children there alongside yours,’ the judge said. 

Sowter claimed he was trying to protect his sons – but Judge Jeremy disagreed. 

‘You did not protect your children but you gave them an education which has come from lies and fraud,’ he said. 

‘The probation officer thought you only had remorse for yourself and so do I.’

Judge Jeremy said the pair’s offences was aggravated by the fact they used their own son as a vehicle for their fraud. 

He told Kim Sowter: ‘You were used by your husband to commit these crimes at his direction but you knew what you were doing.

‘You knew the way the school was being fobbed off and you knew of the VAT fraud.’

Sowter, of Hertford, thanked the judge and shook uncontrollably in the dock as he suspended her sentence.

Chris Wood, Chief Investigator at the Insolvency Service, said: ‘When someone is declared bankrupt, the law requires any money or assets they have to be used to repay what they owe, not to be given away to family and friends.

‘What makes this case particularly serious is that Gareth Sowter had promised the school he would use his inheritance to clear the debts and then did the precise opposite. 

‘Kim Sowter compounded that dishonesty by moving on the money she received, even using some of it for family holidays.

‘Bankruptcy laws exist to ensure that creditors are treated fairly. 

‘Anyone who abuses those protections by fraudulently transferring assets should expect to face serious consequences.’

A gang member serving a life sentence for murdering two young men after mistaking them for rivals has had his sentence increased for battering a taxi driver in a separate attack.

Jason Furtado, 29, helped plan the ambush that saw Leonardo Reid, 15, and Klevi Shekaj, 23, stabbed to death at a music video shoot in Archway, north London, on the night of June 29, 2023.

He was jailed for at least 34 years at the end of a long-running trial at the Old Bailey.

But the killer was back in court on Thursday after pleading guilty to GBH with intent in relation to an attack on an Uber driver three months before the murders.

District judge Emma Deacon KC gave Furtado a consecutive three-year sentence for the attack at Wood Green Crown Court.

She told Furtado: ‘This was an explosive piece of violence from you against Mr Edwards without any proportion to the reality – which was that you were challenged by a taxi driver for banging on his windscreen.’

Furtado, who had been among a group of people inhaling nitrous oxide, had lashed out at Mr Edwards after he dropped off a passenger outside a club in Islington, north London, in March 2023 at around 3.30am.

The judge said Furtado ‘threw a gas canister at him and you hit him over the head with it’.

Mr Edwards fell to the ground but Furtado hit him multiple times, including to the head, and ‘stamped on his head at least twice’.

He then rolled from the pavement to the road.

Mr Edwards was then run over by a car driven by Furtado’s girlfriend Charlotte Sibley, the court heard.

Furtado had pleaded guilty to causing grievous bodily harm (GBH) with intent while Sibley, 28, of Hackney, east London, had pleaded guilty to a charge of careless driving.

Prosecutor Martyn Bowyer said: ‘Mr Edwards remembers nothing until he woke up in hospital.’

Sibley was fined £750 and disqualified from driving for six months by the judge who said it was nothing short of “miraculous that he did not sustain injuries as a result of your driving”.

Sibley, who was three months pregnant at the time, later told police that a fight between some men had broken out and she was in a ‘frightened and confused state’ when she fled and drove over Mr Edwards’s leg.

The judge described Sibley’s driving as ‘utterly irresponsible’, involving an ‘unsafe manoeuvre’ and that the fight had stopped by the time she decided to drive away.

The judge told Sibley: ‘You had run over him. You must have felt something. You had driven over someone’s body.

‘In driving away, you were thinking of yourself.’

Sibley was also ordered to pay a statutory surcharge.

The prosecution said no evidence was being brought regarding an attempted murder charge against Furtado while not guilty verdicts were recorded in relation to allegations of assisting an offender and dangerous driving against Sibley.

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A paraplegic gang-rape victim has died by euthanasia in Spain after courts overruled her father’s efforts to stop the procedure.

Noelia Castillo, 25, from Barcelona, died on Thursday at the Sant Pere de Ribes assisted living facility where she resided, bringing to an end a legal battle that has lasted more than a year and a half. 

Christian Lawyers, the ultraconservative Catholic organisation which has been representing Noelia’s father Geronimo Castillo, said tonight: ‘Noelia has already been euthanised.

‘At Christian Lawyers, we deeply regret her death and denounce that this case highlights the serious flaws in the euthanasia law, which does not protect the most vulnerable people.

‘We urge politicians to use her story to drive urgent changes and prevent something like this from happening again.

‘Thanks to everyone who has empathised with the family during these very difficult times.

‘You can understand that the parents are broken after years of trying to support her in her rehabilitation.’

Before she was euthanised in a procedure which began at 6.30pm local time, Noelia is said to have asked her family to spend extra time with her.

Loved ones were due to leave her alone with a medic who administered her three injections at around 5.30pm but stayed for at least an extra half-hour.

She was alone in the room when she died at her own request apart from the doctor administering her injections. 

Noelia passed away around 20 minutes after receiving the first of the injections.

The 25-year-old had been left paraplegic after jumping from a roof in a suicide attempt.

Her request for euthanasia was approved by the Catalan government in July 2024, but was subsequently delayed when her father, supported by Christian Lawyers, launched a series of legal challenges. 

Those appeals were rejected at multiple levels of the Spanish legal system, including the Constitutional Court and the Supreme Court, clearing the way for the euthanasia to go ahead.

A last-minute attempt to halt it at the European Court of Human Rights was also rejected this week. 

Spain’s euthanasia law came into force in 2021. According to government data, 426 requests for assisted dying were granted in 2024, the most recent year available.

This was the first time that a case went to court for a judge to decide.

Castillo, who had been confined to a wheelchair since 2022, had spoken openly about her decision and the suffering she says led her to it.

‘I want to go now and stop suffering, period. None of my family is in favour of euthanasia. But what about all the pain I’ve suffered during all these years?’ she said. 

‘I don’t feel like doing anything: not going out, not eating. Sleeping is very difficult for me, and I have back and leg pain.’

‘The happiness of a father, a mother, or a sister,’ she said, referring to her family members, ‘cannot be more important than the life of a daughter’. 

In an interview broadcast on the Spanish Antena 3 programme Y Ahora Sonsoles, she described how she wants to spend her final moments.

‘I’ve told them how I want it to be. I want to die looking beautiful. I’ve always thought I want to die looking good. I’ll wear my prettiest dress and put on makeup; it will be something simple,’ she said.

She invited her family to say goodbye beforehand, but said she wanted to be alone when the injection is administered.

Castillo spent much of her childhood in care due to her parents’ addiction and mental health problems, and said a gang rape in 2022 by three boys in a nightclub was a turning point.

She was reportedly sexually abused by one of her ex-boyfriends and later three other men days before she attempted to take her own life, according to Spanish media.

‘I didn’t report it because it was days before I tried to kill myself,’ she said of the assault.

On October 4, 2022, after using cocaine, she jumped from the fifth floor of a building, leaving her paraplegic.

She suffered a severe spinal cord injury, which left her unable to move from the waist down and caused severe neuropathic pain and incontinence.

‘My father saw me fall and couldn’t do anything,’ the 25-year-old said, ‘But after everything he’s done, I don’t feel sorry for him anymore.’

Her father sought to block her euthanasia through the courts, arguing against her right to die, but she accused him of failing to respect her wishes.

‘He hasn’t respected my decision and he never will,’ she said in her final interview.

‘He wanted to put the house he bought in my name so he could continue collecting child support. After that, he doesn’t want to put the house in my name, or pay for the funeral, or attend the euthanasia, or the burial, and he says he doesn’t want to know anything more about me. That for him I’m already dead.

‘I understand. He’s a father and he doesn’t want to lose a daughter, but he doesn’t listen to me. He never calls me, he never writes to me. The only thing he does is bring me food. Why does he want me alive? To keep me in a hospital?’

Prior to her suicide attempt in 2022, the young woman had reportedly already attempted to take her own life through drug overdoses and self-harm.

Castillo also suffered from borderline personality disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder with paranoia and suicidal ideation, leading to severe mood swings and instability.

Spain is one of few countries to legalise euthanasia following a 2021 law that comes with strict requirements.

It stipulates that anyone of sound mind who is suffering from a ‘serious and incurable illness’ or a ‘chronic and disabling’ condition can request assistance to die.

The father had said his daughter suffered from mental disorders that ‘could affect her ability to make a free and conscious decision’ as required by law.

He also said there were indications she had changed her mind and that her ailment did not entail ‘unbearable physical or psychological suffering’.

Despite the intense legal fight, Castillo herself contacted Antena 3 after learning the date of her euthanasia to leave a final message.

‘I’ve finally done it. Let’s see if I can finally rest because I can’t take this family anymore, the pain, everything that torments me from what I’ve been through,’ she said. ‘I don’t want to be an example for anyone, it’s simply my life, and that’s all.’

Her mother, who also appeared in the interview, said she wished she had a ‘magic wand’ to change her daughter’s mind.

Although she has now died, legal action surrounding the case will continue.

Christian Lawyers has launched further complaints against medical professionals and members of Catalonia’s Guarantee and Evaluation Commission, as well as the former regional health minister, alleging misconduct.

The European Court of Human Rights is also expected to rule at a later date on whether there has been any violation of rights, meaning the wider legal questions. 

In messages published online before Noelia’s euthanasia this afternoon, campaigners against it said: ‘On Thursday March 26 at 6pm Noelia will be euthanised. Pray for her life.’

Sympathiser Carla Gomez responded by saying: ‘Rest in peace and to those who don’t like Noelia’s decision, lump it.

‘It’s her life and she has the right to decide.’

Jose Maria Fernandez, acting for Christian Lawyers, said at the doors of the hospital around the time Noelia was about to be euthanised: ‘The legal system has failed. The euthanasia legislation is being applied as an applied suicide law.

‘The procedural system has failed, and there’s been a failure in this country’s health system.

‘This is a young girl who has had a lot of problems, and obviously a very difficult life and we all regret this.

‘But the only thing the health system has been able to provide her with has been death.

‘We think Noelia should have received treatment a long time ago for her mental health problems.’

He added: ‘We hope this case will serve at the very least to prevent it from happening again so there are no more Noelias.’

For help and support, call the Samaritans for free from a UK phone, completely anonymously, on 116 123 or go to samaritans.org