‘Mercy-killing’ daughter spared jail

A woman who smothered her terminally ill father in a “mercy killing” has walked free from court.

Lisa Davenport, 55, received a two-year suspended sentence after pleading guilty to suffocating her 88-year-old father at his retirement home in Banbury, Oxon, in October 2022.

Oxford Crown Court heard that Barrie Davenport, who had terminal pancreatic cancer, was in severe pain during his final hours.

Sentencing his daughter, the judge said: “I recognise I have taken a merciful course.”

John Price KC, prosecuting, said that a doctor and staff at the retirement complex where Mr Davenport lived did not suspect foul play because his death was expected.

“When the doctor certified his death at 10pm on Oct 17, it was believed to be due to natural causes,” he said.

“But that was not so, Mr Davenport had been in fact unlawfully killed by his daughter, this defendant Lisa Davenport.

“At about 7pm, she had smothered her father with a pillow as he lay in his bed.”

The crime was only discovered because Davenport confessed. An hour after suffocating her father, she told a neighbour but swore them to secrecy.

The following morning, Davenport, who by this point was visibly drunk, also confessed to the manager of the retirement complex, who then reported it to the police.

Speaking outside court, Davenport said her family had paid a “heavy price”.

She said: “Three years ago, we discovered that our beloved dad had been given three months to live because he had terminal cancer. Nothing prepared us for what was to come.

“My dad wanted to die at home, but his condition deteriorated so rapidly, and the community care system just couldn’t keep up to speed with that, so he didn’t get enough pain medication, as the prosecution experts said.

“I had to watch my father suffer and no one should have to go through that. I accept that it’s against the law for me to have ended his suffering, but my family have paid a very heavy price.

“We would like now to be left in peace, to grieve and to start healing.”

Mr Price said that “no one could have done more” for a “clearly dying parent” than Davenport, who was “distressed” that her father was in pain.

The daughter pleaded guilty to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility last November.

Mr Price said: “The prosecution has always accepted that had there been a trial, it would have been the prosecution’s case that the motivation was clearly done in a ‘belief by the offender that it was an act of mercy’.

“This phrase is accurately describing her motivation for doing what she did.”

Passing sentence, Mr Justice Linden imposed a two-year prison sentence, suspended for two years, and ordered her to undertake 12-month treatment programmes for her mental health and alcohol dependency.

He also made Davenport subject of a six-month home curfew from 8pm and 8am.

‘No evidence of premeditation’

The judge said that she and her father had a close loving relationship and that in his final days he was in a “great deal of pain”.

He said: “To your credit, you did not say you were acting on any wishes he had expressed.

“There was no evidence of premeditation and I also accept your sole motivation was to bring your father’s suffering to an end and acted because his death was close.

“No one is permitted to take matters into their own hands and people that do should expect an immediate custodial sentence.

“In the case of murder, a life sentence is mandatory – even in the circumstances of a mercy killing.

“I recognise I have taken a merciful course. I have done so because of the mitigating features of your case, which in my judgment are exceptional.”

The case comes ahead of a key Parliamentary debate on assisted dying in England and Wales.

Labour MP Kim Leadbeater, who is sponsoring the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, announced last week the Third Reading would take place on May 16.

Supporters of assisted dying argue that so-called “mercy killings” highlight the need to reform the law.

Sarah Wootton, the chief executive of Dignity in Dying, a pressure group that has financially supported Ms Leadbeater’s campaign, has previously said that “mercy killings” are distinct from murder and manslaughter and “should be treated differently by our criminal justice system”.

She added that recognising this distinction is “a clear indication that the blanket ban on assisted dying does not work”.

But critics, including non-partisan think tank The Other Half, argue that “mercy killings” are not examples of wanted, hastened deaths but are often “violent homicides”.