Carer who killed mother with dementia in ‘act of mercy’ is spared jail

A carer has avoided prison for smothering his 89-year-old mother in what he claims was an “an act of mercy”.

Kevin Pearce, 60, had looked after his mother Eileen Pearce, who suffers from dementia and osteoporosis, for 10 years.

In June 2021, he killed her at their home in Bexleyheath, south-east London, and slashed his wrists with a craft knife before calling the police to “confess”, saying: “She was in a lot of pain.”

The defendant denied murder but admitted manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility due to his severely depressed state.

On Thursday, Judge Alexia Durran sentenced Pearce at the Old Bailey to two years in jail, suspended for two years.

She told the court it was a “tragic case”, but added: “Mercy killing is not recognised as an exemption to the law of homicide.”

She said Ms Pearce was a “fiercely independent” woman who had received “excellent” care at home from her son before he became “overwhelmed” by the situation.

Put his mother ‘out of her suffering’

Judge Durran said: “I considered you decided death for both of you was the only solution in the incredibly sad position you found yourself. I accept your good character. Your actions can be characterised as an act of mercy.”

The judge also sentenced Pearce to 240 days of unpaid work and a 30-day rehabilitation requirement.

Earlier, prosecutor Jack Talbot said Ms Pearce was found dead in her bed on June 5 2021. The defendant told officers that he had put his mother “out of her suffering” with a wet flannel.

He said: “Then I decided to kill myself but it did not work. I thought it was only fair if I did that to my mum. I have got nothing to live for and no one.”

Pearce, who took early retirement from a rail company to look after his mother, said that “nobody wanted to know”.

‘In the end, I had given her release’

In a signed note found on his chest of drawers, Pearce wrote: “I am sorry but it’s all got too much. Mum’s health, dementia, and delirium after her recent hospital stay, really has been so difficult to cope with. I did try my best.

“Last night was just the final straw. That is not living. That is not my brave, beautiful, bright mum who gave up everything for her boys. In the end, I have given her release.

“Please forgive me. I do love her and I did my best. It is not right for me to go on, I accept that and have no regrets.”

In a victim impact statement read to the court, Ms Pearce’s older son Terry Pearce said she had brought them up alone after she split from their father in 1974.

He appealed for “compassion” for his brother, saying he understood the “stress” and “horror” of watching a loved one deteriorate having cared for his wife before she died from cancer.

In mitigation, defence barrister Katy Thorne said: “This is a tragic but highly unusual case.

“We say, Mr Pearce did kill his 89-year-old mother in the throes of a depressive episode in the context of a wholly loving, caring relationship with her.”