A hotelier from Oxford and his sister have been accused of accelerating the death of their century-old mother by administering four times the amount of morphine prescribed by her GP, a jury has heard.
Jeremy Mogford, who owns the Old Bank Hotel on Oxford’s High Street, and his sister Sarah Pickering, who lives on Back Lane in Guildford, Surrey, face allegations of murder and attempted murder over Pamela Mogford’s death.
The 79-year-old Mr Mogford and 72-year-old Ms Pickering have denied both charges.
Prosecutors allege that their mother died at her home in Bledlow Ridge, Buckinghamshire, between February 13 and 16, 2022.
The proceedings opened at Oxford Crown Court on November 10, with prosecutor Julian Christopher KC addressing the jury.
Dr Thomas Neale, Pamela Mogford’s GP, attended her home three times on February 12.
During the latter two visits, he found her experiencing pain and administered morphine injections.
Her death was confirmed by the doctor at 12.30am on February 15 and was initially attributed to old age.
According to Mr Christopher KC, Dr Neale was unaware that the siblings had supplied additional morphine from a bottle of oramorph.
The prosecution’s case is that Pamela Mogford received a quantity four times greater than the amount given by the GP through an injection.
The barrister told the jury that the prosecution believed the additional medication was intended to hasten her death.
He said there had initially been no apparent reason to suspect foul play because Pamela Mogford was extremely old, mentally alert, bedridden and receiving care at home from a live-in carer.
Her husband had died many years earlier.
Mr Christopher KC also suggested that she may have become tired of life by early 2022.
The jury heard that she had consistently refused admission to hospital and had made her wishes known after being warned that declining treatment could prove fatal.
An ambulance was called on the Monday morning because a stroke was suspected.
Pamela Mogford rejected the paramedics’ proposal to take her to hospital.
One paramedic later contacted Ms Pickering by telephone, informing her of the refusal.
According to the prosecution, Ms Pickering indicated that her mother had long wished to die so that she could join her husband.
Messages discovered on Pickering’s husband’s phone prompted the police to begin an investigation, although her death had initially appeared natural.
A second post-mortem examination was conducted in June 2023.
It established that morphine was present in her system, but the elapsed time prevented doctors from establishing how much had been administered.
Mr Christopher KC argued that regardless of Pamela Mogford’s underlying cause of death, the extra morphine provided by the defendants must at least have accelerated it.
The prosecution maintained that murder was established if the quantity had hastened her death and the siblings had intended that outcome.
The trial is expected to continue for approximately four weeks.