<p>Frances Inglis, 57, insisted throughout the two-week trial that she was innocent because she had killed her son with love in her heart, and not malice. She was given a life sentence and told she must spend a minimum of nine years in jail.<br /><br />Tom Inglis was left severely braindamaged after a road accident in July 2007, and his mother believed he was locked into a “living hell” with no hope of recovery.<br /><br />But 10 members of the jury were not convinced, and by a majority verdict she was found guilty of murdering him when he lay in bed in a care home in November 2008. She was also found guilty of making a previous attempt on his life. As the foreman read the verdict, members of Inglis’ family were escorted out of the public gallery after shouting “shame on you”.<br /><br />Judge Brian Barker at the Old Bailey said: “You cannot take the law into your own hands and you cannot take away life, however compelling you think the reason.” <br /><br />Giving evidence, Inglis, a softly spoken mother of three from Dagenham, east London, had maintained that as far as she was concerned, Tom’s life ended on 7 July 2007 when he fell out of a moving ambulance. He had been injured in a fight outside a pub, and then suffered serious head injuries after falling from the vehicle.<br /><br />The head injuries Tom Inglis sustained in Rush Green Road, Romford, were so serious that his mother believed he would never lead a normal life again. So when she injected him with a lethal dose of heroin 16 months later as he lay in a care home, mute and in need of 24-hour care, she didn’t feel she was murdering him. She was releasing him, she told the court. <br /><br />Sobbing in the witness box, she said: “I know Tom – no way would he have wanted to live totally dependent... I know Tom would not want to live.”<br /><br />Speaking after the verdict, Inglis’ oldest son, Alex, 26, said: “I want to say that all of the family and Tom’s girlfriend support my mum 100 per cent.” <br /></p>
<p>Frances Inglis, 57, insisted throughout the two-week trial that she was innocent because she had killed her son with love in her heart, and not malice. She was given a life sentence and told she must spend a minimum of nine years in jail.<br /><br />Tom Inglis was left severely braindamaged after a road accident in July 2007, and his mother believed he was locked into a “living hell” with no hope of recovery.<br /><br />But 10 members of the jury were not convinced, and by a majority verdict she was found guilty of murdering him when he lay in bed in a care home in November 2008. She was also found guilty of making a previous attempt on his life. As the foreman read the verdict, members of Inglis’ family were escorted out of the public gallery after shouting “shame on you”.<br /><br />Judge Brian Barker at the Old Bailey said: “You cannot take the law into your own hands and you cannot take away life, however compelling you think the reason.” <br /><br />Giving evidence, Inglis, a softly spoken mother of three from Dagenham, east London, had maintained that as far as she was concerned, Tom’s life ended on 7 July 2007 when he fell out of a moving ambulance. He had been injured in a fight outside a pub, and then suffered serious head injuries after falling from the vehicle.<br /><br />The head injuries Tom Inglis sustained in Rush Green Road, Romford, were so serious that his mother believed he would never lead a normal life again. So when she injected him with a lethal dose of heroin 16 months later as he lay in a care home, mute and in need of 24-hour care, she didn’t feel she was murdering him. She was releasing him, she told the court. <br /><br />Sobbing in the witness box, she said: “I know Tom – no way would he have wanted to live totally dependent... I know Tom would not want to live.”<br /><br />Speaking after the verdict, Inglis’ oldest son, Alex, 26, said: “I want to say that all of the family and Tom’s girlfriend support my mum 100 per cent.” <br /></p>
