Eight years for the son who tried to send his frail mother to ‘a better place’

A son who tried to suffocate his ailing mother in her sleep to send her ‘to a better place’ was jailed for eight years.

Mark Calvert-Elliott, 54, attempted to smother 82-year-old Iris Elliott on 9 October last year after she was left bedridden following a stroke.

He was interrupted by his sister, Jane and her husband Stephen Kingston, after they heard a ‘squealing’ noise.

The court heard that his brother-in-law, Mr Kingston, had asked him: ‘What do you think you’re doing?’

Calvert-Elliott calmly replied: ‘I think you know.’

He told officers who attended the scene he had tried to suffocate his mother because wanted to send her ‘to a better place’.

In a later interview with police, Mr Calvert-Elliot described it as a ‘moment of madness’.

‘It wasn’t my right to make that decision but in that moment I thought she would be better off.’

He denied he was going to go through with the act but he was convicted of attempted murder after a trial at Peterborough Crown Court.

Judge Sean Enright slammed Mr Calvert-Elliott’s ‘perverse, wanton and capricious’ act.

‘You said you stopped of your own accord, although you said your memory was hazy.

‘It seems clear to me that you did not voluntarily desist but stopped because your sister heard your mother squealing.

‘You intended to kill her and tried to do so and might have succeeded had you not been interrupted.’

Prosecutor Marti Blair said: ‘On return from an evening drinking alcohol he [Mr Elliott-Calvert] placed both hands over her mouth.

‘When his mother started squealing, the defendant’s sister and brother-in-law came to her rescue.’

The court heard that after the breakdown of his marriage, Mr Calvert-Elliott had moved in with his sister and her husband, both of whom had taken care of Ms Elliott since she suffered a ‘catastrophic’ stroke five years earlier.

Since her stroke, Ms Elliott has been left brain damaged and unable to communicate, although she appeared to enjoy watching Strictly Come Dancing.

Defence barrister Gudrun Young argued that Mr Calvert-Elliott’s actions had been an attempt to ‘put his mother out of her misery’.

She said: ‘Up until this point, he had been a patient and loving carer.’

‘The act was momentary and fleeting and lasted a matter of seconds, at most ten.’

‘There is no evidence that he was motivated by anything other than a genuine belief that she would be better off dead.’

Ms Young added: ‘On any view it is a tragic case. Ms Elliott ultimately had significantly reduced quality of life.

‘Her sister would say that “the best news you could tell me was that she had died”.

‘It was not for their sake but for hers.’

The court heard that Mr Calvert-Elliott had suffered from depression for many years and had been on antidepressants following the break-up of his marriage.

Ms Young said: ‘The harm caused to her was negligible, the defendant reported himself to the police. Had he not done so it is almost inevitable that this crime would not have come to light.’

‘One must bear in mind that the only evidence that led to Mr Calvert-Elliot being arrested, prosecuted and convicted comes from him.’

‘The cost to him of these brief, momentary actions have been devastating. He will in all likelihood never see his mother again.’’

But Judge Enright refused to accept that version of events, insisting that Mr Calvert-Elliott’s had only stopped because he was interrupted.

‘You have shown little remorse, often seeing yourself as a victim in this case,’ the judge said.

‘I detect a degree of selfishness which is often a feature of a depressive state of mind.’

The judge noted that Mr Calvert-Smith’s son had been ‘the only bright spot’ in his life for a number of years but the fact his wife had started to restrict access contributed to his depression.

‘In the days before this incident you started drinking more heavily.

‘What you did was not planned but was building over that evening by your wife’s decision to restrict your access to your son.’

The court heard that Mr Calvert-Elliot had two previous convictions both committed in 2017, one for carrying a knife and another involving threatening and abusive behaviour.

Speaking only to confirm his name, Mr Calvert-Elliott appeared at the Old Bailey via video link from HMP Peterborough.

Detective Sergeant Rob Sansom, who gave evidence during the trial, said: ‘This was a truly sad case, however Calvert-Elliott’s actions could have resulted in his mother losing her life and that decision was not his to make.

‘Thankfully the victim’s daughter and son-in-law entered the room when the incident was taking place and the victim has not sustained any long-lasting injuries as a result of this.’

Calvert-Elliott, of Wingfield, Orton Goldhay, denied but was convicted of attempted murder and jailed for eight years.

The judge also imposed a restraining order preventing Mr Calvert-Elliott from visiting his mother or the address in which she lives at in Orton Goldhay.