Woman who tried to 'smother and stab' her mother, 89, on hospital ward jailed
She said her mother "had no quality of life"
A woman who tried to 'smother' and kill her elderly mother with a knife on a hospital ward has been jailed for three years.
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Susan Hardwick, 65, attacked her 89-year-old mother Joan Hardwick at Doncaster Royal Infirmary, telling shocked medical staff: “I want to kill her.”
Doncaster Crown Court heard Hardwick used pillows and a knife in the attack before being restrained by hospital staff.
She later told them her mother “had no quality of life.”
However, prosecutors said Joan was “not at death’s door” and had been preparing to be discharged to a care home. They told the court that she “has remained well since.”
Hardwick, of Beech Road, Armthorpe, Doncaster, admitted attempted murder at a previous hearing and was sentenced at the same court earlier this week.
The court heard she has cerebral palsy, a likely learning disability, and is currently being treated for cancer. She appeared in court in a wheelchair and sobbed as she was led from the dock to begin her sentence.
Sentencing her, Mr Justice Goss described it as a “difficult and troubling case” and said it was unlike any he had encountered before in his career.
The judge said Hardwick’s actions appeared to have stemmed from confusion and a rigid thought process rather than malice.
“Given your mental disability and rigid thought process, and the absence of any other possible reason for such a dramatic act, I accept that you might have thought it was the merciful thing to do at that time,” he said.
He added that Hardwick seemed to have misunderstood her mother’s situation, believing she was being sent back to another hospital where she had previously received poor treatment.
“There’s no evidence of your mother requesting or implying that she wanted to die,” Mr Justice Goss told her.
“On the day of the offence she was expecting to go to a care home and not to the hospital with which you had an issue.”
Prosecutor Michelle Colborne KC said staff were first alerted by a “commotion” and a cry for help from the ward.
A healthcare assistant found Hardwick “pushing pillows forcefully down on her mother’s face.”
After being dragged away, Joan told medics: “She’s tried to kill me,” and apologised to them for what they had been put through.
Ms Colborne said hospital staff found superficial cuts on Joan’s neck, chin and wrist, and discovered a knife on her breakfast tray that was “not hospital equipment".
When security staff arrived, Hardwick reportedly held out her wrists and told them to “take her away".
The prosecutor told the court she could not accept the incident was an “act of mercy” and believed it was more likely “an act of frustration".
Defending, Nicholas Rhodes KC said Hardwick had lived with cerebral palsy since birth and had been dependent on her mother her entire life.
He said she had “never been able to live independently” and had struggled with mobility, communication, and depression.
Mr Rhodes added that the pair had lived a “hermitic existence” since the death of Susan’s father 25 years ago.