Thu, 05 Sep 2019
Two counsel at No5 Barristers’ Chambers are defending an 80-year-old grandmother accused of killing her husband in a ‘mercy killing overdose’.
Mark Heywood QC and Martin Liddiard are leading the defence of Mavis Eccleston who denies murder and a alternative charge of manslaughter over the death of her terminally ill husband Dennis, 81.
The couple, who had been married for nearly 60 years, were found at their home in Huntington, Cannock, on February 19, 2018. It is alleged that Mrs Eccleston gave her husband a lethal dose of prescription drugs in a ‘mercy killing’ before taking a similar overdose herself.
She held her husband’s hand as he passed away the following day having received an antidote for her own overdose.
Jurors at Stafford Crown Court also heard that an apparent suicide note had been found.
Mr Eccleston was suffering with bowel cancer but had requested no further treatment, except for pain management medication, the court heard.
The trial continues.
To read more about the case, visit: https://www.expressandstar.com/news/crime/2019/09/04/woman-80-gave-dying-husband-mercy-killing-overdose-in-apparent-suicide-pact/
Mark Heywood QC and Martin Liddiard are both members of the Crime Group at No5 Barristers’ Chambers.
