Family divided as daughter escapes jail for trying to smother sick father in mercy killing

Jennifer Allwood, 41, was drunk when she held a pillow over her 67-year-old father's face, telling him she wanted to free him from the pain of his stomach cancer.

"I am going to finish it dad, this is cruel," she is said to have told him.

But father-of-seven Alexander Thow summoned the strength to push the pillow up, turn his face and shout for help.

Scroll down for more...

Allwood's daughter Lisa-Marie, 20, heard his cries and ran in to pull her mother away. When police arrived Allwood told them: "Take me away. I will just do it again and kill him."

Three of her sisters shouted abuse at her and said they had disowned her as she arrived at Hull Crown Court, where she admitted attempting to murder Mr Thow on June 11.

The former sailor had been given six months to live but days before the incident he discharged himself from hospital to spend what time he had left with his large family, including 20 grandchildren.

He died a month after the attempted killing, but the Recorder of Hull, Judge Michael Mettyear, said there was no medical evidence to indicate that it had hastened his death.

He gave Allwood a 12-month prison sentence, suspended for 18 months and ordered her to do 150 hours community work.

"This was a disgraceful thing to do. It was wholly misguided and quite, quite wrong," he said.

On the day of the crime, Allwood, of Lovett Street, Cleethorpes, Lincolnshire, had gone to see her father at his home in the town before going drinking at a social club with her husband and daughter.

Simon Waley, prosecuting, said she was the "worse for wear" and three hours after her arrest she was still more than twice the legal limit for driving.

Mr Waley said Mr Thow became aware she had placed a pillow over his face.

He tried to ask her what she was doing and attempted to push her away. "She was pushing the pillow on to his face with all of her force," he said.

The court was told that Allwood, who has previous convictions for benefit fraud, assault and causing criminal damage, had been affected by two incidents earlier this year.

Douglas Hogg QC, defending, said her husband had an affair which led her to twice take overdoses, and her father-in-law had died.

He said she was deeply distressed and sorry for what she had done.

Initially Mr Thow didn't want his daughter to be arrested but later agreed to make a complaint.

Mr Hogg said there was a "great deal of underyling tension" within the family.

The judge said he was aware of her relatives' views about her "culpability", but said there was no purpose in sending the defendant to prison.

Her three sisters said Allwood's actions had traumatised their mother Frances and that she should have been jailed.

Judy, 36, said: "We don't want anything more to do with Jennifer."

Fiona, 38, said: "This has appalled everyone in the family. My sister should be in jail for a long time. She wasn't bothered about our father, only herself.

"They say that what she did didn't hasten is death but it didn't do him any good either."

Cherylee, 35, added: "It was the shock that killed him."