Mother found not guilty of attempted murder of ME sufferer daughter
A mother has been found not guilty this afternoon of the attempted murder of her seriously ill daughter.
Bridget Kathleen Gilderdale, known as Kay, had cared devotedly for daughter Lynn for 17 years at their Stonegate home, after the once bright and healthy schoolgirl was paralysed by ME aged 14.
When she found her in the midst of a failed overdose on December 3, 2008, she continued giving her morphine, as well as sleeping tablets Zopiclone, Temazepam and Diazepam, for an agonising 28 hours until she finally ended her suffering for good, Lewes Crown Court heard last week.
Lynn told her mother: "I want the pain to go. I don't want to go on".
Gilderdale, 55, who was supported 'unconditionally' by her family throughout the whole court case, admitted aiding her daughter's suicide at a hearing in July but denied attempted murder.
The court heard that Lynn, who was 31 when she died, had an "unimaginably wretched" quality of life and could not sit up, feed herself or speak.
She was fed through a tube in her nose, had hourly morphine injections through her skin, and other drugs pumped straight into a vein through a valve known as a Hickman line.
Her mother, described as "caring, loving and most devoted" had been trained to administer all the drugs Lynn needed at home, including extra morphine on top of her 210 mg daily dose if necessary.
She and her ex-husband Richard, a former Battle police sargeant who was still very much involved in caring for his daughter, had developed their own sign language which allowed Lynn to communicate.
Mr Gilderdale described his daughter as 'a beautiful, healthy girl' until she was struck down by ME in 1991 which coincided with her BCG inoculation at school.
The court heard that the former policeman and Gilderdale had been married for almost 30 years but split in 2001.
Mr Gilderdale has since re-married but told the court he remained 'exceptionally close' to his daughter.
The jury heard how Lynn had asked a professional carer to look into the option of euthanasia at the Dignitas clinic in Switzerland.
Mr Gilderdale also said his daughter had a fear of hospitals following allegations that she was sexually molested by a senior heath professional in London while receiving treatment for ME months before she died.
The matter was reported to the Metropolitan Police and an investigation was ongoing at the time of Lynn's death. The medic was not named.
In April 2008, Lynn made a directive, with the help of her GP, stating that she did not want medics to do anything more to prolong or sustain her life.
The court heard evidence that Mrs Gilderdale had made several internet searches about assisted suicide just hours before her daughter died.
Gilderdale was sentenced to a 12 month conditional discharge for aiding and abetting her daughter's suicide.
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Monday 28 May 2012
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