Woman, 82, fought off 'evil' son as he tried to smother her to get her inheritance

An elderly mother told a court how she had struggled to survive as her 'evil' son tried to smother her with pillows to get his hands on his inheritance.

Anne Smith, 82, had just got home from a three-week stint in hospital when she woke to the attack by 47-year-old Barry Armstrong-Smith.

Mrs Smith broke down today as she told a jury how she awoke to find her son pressing two pillows down on her face while his girlfriend looked on.

The grandmother-of-three said: 'I thought they had come in to see if I was all right, but they hadn't.

'I felt myself going and thought I was going to die. I fought.

'I felt I was dying and I got so mad. I shouted, "Barry, Barry!" I fought him then he left. I do not know where I got the strength from.'

Leeds Crown Court heard how Armstrong-Smith and his partner, Marrion Herrington, 42, hatched a plan to kill frail Mrs Smith because they wanted to inherit his share of her York bungalow - about £40,000 - and £2,000 of her savings.

Prosecutor Simon Kealey said that while Armstrong-Smith was trying to smother his mother, Herrington played her part by 'standing, offering encouragement and after the attempt had failed, trying to dispose of the crucial evidence - in the case the pillows.'

Armstrong-Smith has already pleaded guilty to the attempted murder of his mother. Herrington denies the charge.

When asked by Mr Kealey today whether she was a depressive person and could have wished Barry to kill her, she laughed and replied: 'Goodness no, I am not a low person, I love life and I love people. I am happy with my life and have very good friends.'

After her son ended up homeless and destitute, the pensioner had let the recovering alcoholic live with her on the condition that he did not drink.

She had then allowed Herrington to move in as well and had subsequently fallen out with her daughter Carol.

After this dispute she changed her will, so that Armstrong-Smith and his brother Glen would inherit the half-share she still had in her bungalow having already sold the other half.

When asked about her will by Paul Williams, defending, Mrs Smith said that although Herrington was not named she would benefit from the legacy through Barry.

Asked by Mr Willams if Herrington was also involved in the attack, Mrs Smith said: 'If she had come in and helped Barry I wouldn't have been here and been able to help myself. Barry did it on his own but she had a lot to do with it.

'As far as I am concerned she made him do it. I looked after him for two years before she came along, if it had been in his mind he would have done it long ago.

'She was the dominating one, he was besotted with her and he wanted someone to be with him. I was glad he had found someone.'

On the evening of February 29 - just a day after Mrs Smith had been discharged from hospital after suffering pancreatic problems - the couple went out to buy food for her.

Mrs Smith had gone to bed but was woken at 11.45pm by the lights coming on in her room. Then he attacked her.

She did not know whether her shouting had got through to him, but at last her son abruptly stood up and left the room.

'When I saw the pillows, that is when I realised he had tried to kill me and that is why I barricaded myself inside the room,' she said.

'I was just so mad with him. Barry tried to get in my room again but I shouted "You're evil" to him.

'I have a warden service in my house so I pressed the pendant that was around my neck. It's a good system and costs £18 a month, but it is worth much more to me now.'

Paramedics arrived at the house and found Mrs Smith had used a chair, a chest of drawers and a bedside table to block the bedroom door. They looked through her window to check she was safe and then called police.

She said: 'I realise he wanted the house, he wanted the money. That is the reason this happened.

'I realise I should have said no when he asked if he could move in. I had blinkers as far as my son is concerned. They have come off now.'

The trial continues.