Browns brasserie founder and his sister were told by GP not to give his mother, 100, any more pain killing medication before they 'murdered her with morphine', court hears

A GP warned the founder of Browns Brasserie and his sister not to give their 100-year-old mother any more painkillers hours before they allegedly murdered her with morphine, a court heard. Pamela Mogford died aged 100 after she was given a dose of oral morphine solution – known as Oramorph – by her children Jeremy Mogford, 79, a restaurateur, and his sister Sarah Pickering, 72.It is alleged the defendants gave their mother the equivalent of 'at least four times' as much morphine as what her GP had given her the evening before she died in an effort to 'speed up' her death, Oxford Crown Court heard.Giving evidence, Dr Thomas Neale told the jury he had visited Mrs Mogford at her home on three occasions on the day before she died, giving her injections of morphine on the second and third visits.He said during his second visit she was complaining of back pain and he administered a 2.5mg injection of morphine and an anti-sickness drug to reduce the side effects of the painkiller.He returned later and administered a further 2.5mg injection of morphine because he wanted her to be comfortable for the evening.Dr Neale said he left three further ampules of morphine in Mrs Mogford's home in case of need, which could be administered by a medic called to her home.He told the court he considered Mrs Mogford to be 'opiate naive' – meaning she had not been given much morphine. Jeremy Mogford, 79, (pictured), founder of Browns Brasserie, and his sister Sarah Pickering, 72, are accused of murdering their 100-year-old mother with morphine Pamela Mogford died aged 100 at her home in Bledlow Ridge, Buckinghamshire, in February 2022. Pamela is pictured with her husband Peter'I was going to give her one of the smallest doses that may have made a difference,' he said.'If you are not opiate naive and you are already on opiate medication, it may mean that you need to be given a slightly larger dose.'But if she wasn't on anything at the time, you start with the smallest dose.'The court heard Mrs Mogford had also been prescribed morphine solution, known as Oramorph, which could be taken orally up to four times a day.Dr Neale said on his third visit he spoke with both of the defendants again as he had done on his second visit.'On this second occasion, I explained that the haloperidol had appeared to have worked and she was no longer being sick,' he said.'But the morphine injection that I had given her hadn't been sufficient so that I was going to give her another small dose of morphine in the hope that she would become comfortable.'I explained that I was leaving the ampoules so that there were going to be three morphine ampoules and four haloperidol ampoules in the house in case another doctor was called out at night. Mogford and Pickering (pictured) are accused of giving their mother at least four times the amount of morphine administered by her GP in an attempt to speed up her death The GP described Mrs Mogford as 'opiate naive', meaning she had little previous exposure to morphine, and said he deliberately started with a small dose Pamela died at her £1.8million cottage in Bledlow Ridge, Buckinghamshire, where her children are accused of giving her an excessive dose of morphine to speed up her death'Then they would have those ampoules to hand should they decide that they wanted to give her.'Dr Neale went on to explain to the jury what else he told the defendants that evening.'I wasn't wanting them to be giving her any other medication, I didn't want them to give her any other medication for pain,' he said.'I explained the reason being, that her having side-effects with the other painkillers that she had had in the past, paracetamol not being particularly helpful.'The concern, obviously, with medication such as this is that it can depress breathing. You want to make sure that you have the patient comfortable.'But it's best to have a doctor to assess what would be an appropriate dose at what time to come with that.'Asked what the concern might be with depressing breathing, Dr Neale replied: 'It may depress breathing sufficiently for the patient to die.'The following morning, Mogford rang the surgery to inform them his mother had passed away shortly after midnight, the court heard.Dr Neale then attended the home and certified death, giving a cause of death as 'old age', and collected the ampoules of medication he had left there the previous day.Mogford, who founded the Browns Brasserie chain, and Pickering are accused of murdering their mother in Bledlow Ridge, Buckinghamshire.They also face an alternative charge of attempted murder of Mrs Mogford who died shortly after midnight on February 15, 2022.The pair were arrested after texts were discovered from Pickering on the evening of her death which included 'I am actually killing her' and 'I shall wait until Foyle is over then I can go to my grave knowing I have topped someone. It's certainly on my bucket list.'The siblings accept giving their mother Oramorph after the GP had left, but deny intending to quicken her death, rather maintaining they did so because she was in pain, the trial has previously been told.The trial before Mr Justice Jay continues.