Suicide pact husband laid to rest

Bill Ainscow was dead when he was pulled from the sea

The funeral has been held of a pensioner who died after making a suicide pact with his wife.

Bill and Wendy Ainscow took sleeping tablets and walked into the sea off Tenerife a month ago.

Mrs Ainscow survived, but her husband was dead when the couple were picked up by a fishing boat.

The funeral was at St James Church in New Brighton, Merseyside, close to the couple's former home in Prenton. They had recently moved to Birmingham.

Mrs and Mrs Ainscow claimed they wanted to take their own lives after they were driven to despair trying to care for their daughter Lisa, who has Asperger's Syndrome.

The couple had posted a suicide note to the Daily Post newspaper in Liverpool hours before they walked into the sea.

Wendy Ainscow has said she will look after her daughter

In it they said their daughter was too much for them to cope with.

Mrs Ainscow, 64, said her daughter's money spending problems, caused by her condition, put pressure on her and her husband.

Last year Mr Ainscow, 75, a former sub-postmaster, was jailed for stealing £50,000 in benefit books to help fund his daughter's addiction to spending.

Lisa Ainscow did not attend Monday's funeral service.

'Tragic events'

The Rev Bruce Harry began the service by saying that no-one should judge Mr Ainscow over how he died.

He said: "We make no comment or judgment on things that have happened. We have a judge, but not here.

"It is unfortunate that the media coverage of the tragic events which have brought us here doesn't portray Bill in that light, as a highly-skilled professional who was held in such high esteem by his colleagues and friends."

He added that he hoped Mrs Ainscow and her daughter would now be given "the support they need".