Murder-accused siblings' mother 'in agony' court hears

A 100-year-old mother who was allegedly killed by her well-known hotelier son and his sister by giving her liquid morphine was "in agony" the night before she died, a court has heard.

Oxford restaurateur Jeremy Mogford, 79, and Sarah Pickering, 72, deny murdering their mother, Pamela Mogford, in Bledlow Ridge, Buckinghamshire.

She died at about 00:30 GMT on 15 February 2022, a jury in Oxford Crown Court was told.

Giving evidence, a carer who was looking after Mrs Mogford detailed how unwell she was at the time, saying her condition got "worse and worse" every day.

Mogford opened the first Browns Brasserie in 1973 in Brighton with then-business partner John Mayhew.

He and his sister were arrested after texts were discovered from Pickering on the evening of their mother's death which included the words "I am actually killing her".

It is alleged they gave her the equivalent of "at least four times" as much morphine as what her GP had given her the evening before she died to "speed up" her death.

The siblings accept giving their mother Oramorph after the GP had left, but deny intending to quicken her death.

They say they did it because she was in pain.

On 14 February, carer Agnes Pawlikowska called an ambulance because Mrs Mogford seemed to be "in another dimension", unable to speak properly or stand, the court was told.

She said one of the paramedics told her the patient could be dead in a couple of hours or days.

Jurors heard previously that Mrs Mogford's GP visited her three times that day, giving her injections of morphine on the second and third visits as he thought "she might be dying".

Pawlikowska recorded in her notes that the GP left instructions that the patient was to be kept comfortable and pain-free, and that "Pamela was lying on the bed under morphine in agony".

Asked on Wednesday if she would have administered morphine that night "out of pity", Pawlikowska said: "Yes, I would."

But she told jurors she did not remember giving Mrs Mogford any morphine herself and confirmed she would "always" record medication administered in her notes.

Pawlikowska also said she suspected Mogford was the favourite child.

She told the court he visited his mother "very often" and spoke with her on the phone "every day".

She said it was "true" that her patient would "chirp up" when her son visited or called.

David Worsfold, a paramedic who assessed Mrs Mogford, said it was obvious she was in pain and that he would have administered her morphine if there had been any available in the ambulance.

He told jurors if he had known Oramorph was in the house, he may have administered a small dose.

He believed Mrs Mogford had had an aortic aneurysm and recommended to her that she should go to hospital, which she declined.

When he discussed the risks with her, "the main one being death", he recalled that she replied: "Good."

The court heard Mrs Mogford was described as "EOL", which refers to end of life care.

Previously, Pickering's barrister Benjamin Newton KC told the jury her texts were "gallows humour to cope with life's difficulties".

In one text exchange, the jury heard she wrote: "Never killed anyone before, but I have often thought about it.

"I shall wait until Foyle is over then I can go to my grave knowing I have topped someone. It's certainly on my bucket list."

The siblings also face an alternative charge of attempted murder.

Mogford sold the Browns chain, which has a large presence in university towns such as Oxford and Cambridge, to Bass Brewery for £35m in 1996.

He also founded various independent hotels and restaurants in Oxford, including the Old Bank Hotel and Old Parsonage Hotel, Quod Restaurant, Parsonage Grill and Gee's Restaurant.

The trial continues.