BBC News
PA MediaA woman described as a “devoted daughter” has received a suspended prison sentence after she admitted the manslaughter of her terminally ill father.
Dr Lisa Davenport used a pillow to smother Barrie Davenport, 88, at the Foxhall Court retirement home in Banbury on 17 October 2022.
Handing her a two-year suspended prison sentence, Judge Mr Justice Linden said: “I recognise I have taken a merciful course.”
At a previous hearing, Davenport had denied murder, but pleaded guilty to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility.
On Friday, Oxford Crown Court heard Mr Davenport had been suffering from terminal pancreatic cancer and was in a lot of pain during his final hours.
John Price KC, prosecuting, said Davenport, of Middleton Cheney in Northamptonshire, had been “distressed by how her father appeared”.
“This background might explain why a devoted daughter did what she did to her father that evening,” he said.
PA MediaMr Price said staff at Mr Davenport’s retirement complex and a doctor did not initially suspect foul play because his death was expected to be imminent.
“When the doctor certified his death at 22:00 on October 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 07:00 she had smothered her father with a pillow as he lay in his bed.”
Mr Price said Davenport confessed an hour later to a neighbour and friend of her father what she had done and asked her not to say anything.
The following morning she also told the manager of the retirement complex, who then reported it to the police.
“Were it not for those confessions subsequently saying he had been unlawfully killed, it would have not been discovered,” Mr Price said.
“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.”
Need help? If you have been affected by this story the BBC Action Line web page features a list of organisations which are ready to provide support and advice.
