Suicide pair's girl 'heartbroken'

Lisa Ainscow is a sufferer of Asperger's Syndrome

An autistic women says she is heartbroken by her parents' decision to make a suicide pact because they could not cope with her condition.

Bill and Wendy Ainscow, formerly of Wirral, took a mixture of drugs before walking into the sea off Tenerife.

Mr Ainscow, 75, died, and his 64-year-old wife is in hospital.

The couple's daughter Lisa suffers from Asperger's syndrome. They said in a suicide note that the 33-year-old was "too much" for them to cope with.

Mr and Mrs Ainscow, who had been living in Birmingham, were picked up by a fishing boat from the sea last week.

Conviction

They wrote a "suicide note" to the Liverpool Daily Post, posted only hours before the pair walked into the sea.

The condition suffered by Mr and Mrs Ainscow's daughter causes her to make demands for money, and she has racked up huge debts.

Last year Mr Ainscow, a former sub-postmaster, was jailed for stealing £50,000 in benefit books to help fund his daughter's addiction.

He was freed by the Court of Appeal when it heard about his circumstances.

Miss Ainscow told the Liverpool Echo: "I am heartbroken. It is hard to come to terms with what has happened.

Mr and Mrs Ainscow were picked up from the sea by a fishing boat

"I wish somebody would help. I just want someone to give me a chance in life."

In their letter, Mr and Mrs Ainscow claims the NHS, to which they made an official complaint, failed to help them look after their daughter, who is "spending money faster than I can earn it".

The letter reads: "We realise now that this is an impossible task which we have had to abandon as she (Lisa) is proving to be too much for us to cope with.

"There is still no attempt to provide any form of help, therefore we have chosen that the only way out is to end our lives.

"...We came to Tenerife on a cheap one-way flight and have been sleeping on the beach for the last three nights while we pondered the situation, but we realise that we will have to end our lives as there is no help whatsoever."

Miss Ainscow's care is the joint responsibility of Wirral and Birmingham social services.