Smother attack couple sentenced

The couple wanted to inherit half of the house, worth about £45,000

A man has been jailed, along with his partner, for attempting to murder his elderly mother by smothering her with a pillow to claim an inheritance.

Barry Armstrong-Smith, 47, had pleaded guilty to attempting to murder Anne Smith, then 81, at her York home.

Marrion Herrington, 42, who stood and watched as her partner carried out the attack, was convicted of attempted murder after a trial.

The pair were sentenced to five years each at Leeds Crown Court.

The court was told the couple, who lived with Mrs Smith in Acomb, wanted to inherit Armstrong-Smith's share of the house, worth about £45,000.

You, Armstrong-Smith, held the pillow over your mother's face, intending to murder her by suffocation, but you didn't count on her fighting spirit Judge James Stewart

Shortly after Mrs Smith's return from hospital following a serious illness, the pair began to tire of caring for her, the court was told.

Jurors heard that on 29 February they formed a plan to kill her while at their local pub.

They returned home and entered Mrs Smith's bedroom, where Herrington turned on the light and stood in the doorway.

Judge James Stewart QC said: "You, Armstrong-Smith, held the pillow over your mother's face, intending to murder her by suffocation.

"But you didn't count on her fighting spirit, she fought like a tiger for air, she drew on reserves she never, in her weak state, thought she had.

Panic alarm

"So hard did she fight that the enormity of what you were doing, I find, dawned on you, and you gave up your attempt."

Mrs Smith then barricaded herself in her bedroom and pressed the panic alarm, alerting emergency services.

When paramedics arrived she told them: "They tried to kill me."

Judge Stewart said: "Out of the goodness of her heart she had taken you both in to live with her in her bungalow. She was elderly and frail, she was hard of hearing, she couldn't walk too well.

"The understanding which was reached, or so she understood it, was that the two of you would look after her in her own home in exchange for you living there.

"She had rescued you both from destitution."