MOTHER IN DOCK.

Star (Christchurch), Volume LXVI, Issue 20454, 6 November 1934, Page 5

MOTHER IN DOCK.

Accused of Killing Helpless Imbecile Son. “ PUT MY BOY TO SLEEP.” (Special to the “ Star.”) LONDON, October 2. A mother who was alleged to have said: “ I mercifully put my boy to sleep,” was committed for trial at I Knaresborough Police Court, Yorkshire, on a charge of murdering her son. She was Mrs May Brownhill. aged sixty-two, of Westminster Drive, Burn Bridge, Pannal, near Harrogate. The dead son was Denis Brownhill, aged thirty, stated by a doctor to be a “ helpless imbecile.” Mrs Brownhill pleaded not guilty and reserved her defence. Mr C. N. Roberts, for the prosecution, said that the son had been almost a helpless invalid for the past ten years. “ That made it necessary,” he said, “ for Mrs Brownhill, as his mother, to be constantly devoted to him. Mrs Brownhill was also in a bad state of health—so bad that she expected to undergo a serious operation.” Mr Roberts said that on the morning of September 17 Mrs Brownhill said to Dr Holroyd, “ I have put Denis to sleep. I gave him about a hundred aspirins, and then placed the gas tube in his mouth.” The cause of the man's death was carbon monoxide poisoning from gas. Mr Roberts said that Mrs Brownhill, when charged with the murder, replied, “ I did not ‘ feloniously and maliciously.’ I mercifully put my boy to sleep.” The words “ feloniously ” and “ maliciously ” were in the charge put to her.

A woman employed by Mrs Brownhill as a help stated in evidence that Mrs Brownhill said to her, “ I would undergo the operation right away if it were not for Denis.” She said that Denis was the problem, and she did not like to leave him behind.

Dr Benjamin Holroyd, of Pannal. said, in reply to questions, that the son was a helpless imbecile, and his existence was a “ living death.”