A woman who suffocated her terminally ill father with a pillow in his bed to end his “delirious” levels of pain has been spared jail.
“Devoted daughter” Dr Lisa Davenport smothered her father Barrie Davenport, 88, on the evening of 17 October 2022 at his home in Banbury, Oxfordshire, in a so-called mercy killing which, she said, her family had “paid a very heavy price” over.
The sentencing judge told Davenport, 55, he had “taken a merciful course” as he issued the warning: “I emphasise that however stressful the circumstances, no one is permitted to take matters into their own hands.”
The court heard the mother of two had carried “the burden and the privilege” of being her father’s primary carer during his painful final months, as he suffered from a number of severe health conditions including aggressive pancreatic cancer, and had been told he had three months to live.
The bedbound 88-year-old had been “curled up in a ball and holding his abdomen because of pain” the previous day and had expressed multiple wishes to die, with medical experts agreeing his death was expected within hours.
Mr Davenport’s rapid deterioration “took a toll” on his daughter, who was “distressed” at his suffering and what she saw as his loss of dignity, as well as “frustrated” at what she believed was her father’s lack of adequate medical care and pain relief. The court heard the Crown did not accept these “unfair and inaccurate” criticisms.
Passing sentence, Mr Justice Linden described Mr Davenport as “delirious as a result of the pain and in sharp decline” by 13 October 2022.
The judge said: “You were with your father throughout the day on 17 October. At about 7pm in the evening, when you were on your own with him, you took one of his pillows and smothered him in his bed.”
He continued: “I accept that you were solely motivated by your wish to bring your father’s suffering to an end and you acted on the belief his death was close at hand... I also accept that had you not hastened his death, the little time he had left would likely have been spent in great pain and discomfort.”
The defendant was given a suspended prison sentence of two years at Oxford Crown Court on Friday after previously pleading guilty to manslaughter by diminished responsibility.
Speaking outside court, Davenport said: “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.”
John Price KC, prosecuting, said that a doctor and staff at Mr Davenport’s retirement complex, where he had chosen to spend his final months instead of at a hospice, did not suspect foul play because his death was expected to be imminent.
Davenport confessed an hour later to a neighbour and friend of her father about what she had done and asked her not to say anything. 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.
Mr Price said: “Were it not for those confessions subsequently saying he had been unlawfully killed, it would have not been discovered.
“The evidence suggests that, following his terminal diagnosis, this defendant was a devoted carer of her father as his health declined. It is accurate to say that no one could have done more for a clearly dying parent than she did.”
The court heard that Mr Davenport was in a great deal of discomfort, and there were difficulties in getting his pain management under control.
Mr Price said: “This defendant was distressed by how her father appeared. She asked for him to receive more pain relief. This background might explain why a devoted daughter did what she did to her father that evening.
“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.”
The judge cited Davenport’s children’s letters to the court in his sentencing remarks. He said: “They recognise the seriousness of what you’ve done, but emphasise how much you are loved and needed by both of them.”
After passing sentence, he told the defendant: “On a personal level, I wish you all the best.”
The judge also ordered Davenport to undertake 12-month treatment programmes for her mental health and alcohol dependency, and made her subject to a six-month home curfew from 8pm to 8am.
