Founder of Browns brasserie chain and his sister accused of murdering their 100 year-old mother 'gave her liquid morphine to speed up her death' court hears

The founder of Browns Brasseries and his sister gave their 100-year-old mother liquid morphine to 'speed up' her death, a court has heard.Oxford restaurateur Jeremy Mogford, 79, and Sarah Pickering, 72, are on trial accused of murdering Pamela Mogford at her cottage in the picturesque village of Bledlow Ridge, Buckinghamshire, where she had lived for 75 years. They also face an alternative charge of attempted murder of Mrs Mogford, who died aged 100 in the early hours of February 15 2022.Oxford Crown Court heard Pickering had sent a message on the evening of her mother's death in which she said: '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.'Mogford later sent a message to Pickering on the day of Elizabeth II's death in September 2022 writing: 'Do you think they will morphine Queenie up like we did?' Restauranter Jeremy Mogford, 79, who has denied murdering his mother Pamela, who died aged 100 in February 2022The court heard on Tuesday that Mrs Mogford's GP had visited her three times on February 14, giving her injections of morphine on the second and third visits as he thought 'she might be dying'.When he certified her death the following day, he gave the cause of death as 'old age'.Opening the trial, prosecutor Julian Christopher KC said: 'What he did not know was that after his third and final visit the day before, the defendants had between them given their mother more morphine from a bottle of a medicine called Oramorph, which is a liquid form of morphine designed to be swallowed that had been prescribed to Pamela Mogford a few weeks earlier.'Using an oral syringe they gave her the equivalent of at least four times as much morphine the GP had given that evening by injection.'He added that it was the prosecution's case that their 'intention in doing so was to speed up their mother's death'.The siblings accept giving their mother Oramorph after the GP had left, but deny intending to speed up her death, claiming they did so because she was in pain, the court heard.Mogford opened the first Browns Brasserie in 1973 in Brighton with then-business partner John Mayhew.He sold the Browns chain, which has a large presence in university towns such as Oxford and Cambridge, to Bass Brewery for £35million in 1996.Prosecutors said 'at the time there seemed to be nothing suspicious about Mrs Mogford's death.'Mr Christopher said: 'She was, obviously, extremely old. While she retained her mental faculties, she was bed bound, and was looked after at home by a live-in carer.'She was confined to the sitting room on the ground floor of Rose Cottage, which was the family home in the village of Bledlow Ridge, near High Wycombe.'Her husband had died many years earlier and it may well be that by early 2022 she had become fed up with living.'The court heard that Mrs Mogford was 'adamant that she did not want to be admitted to hospital under any circumstances'.An ambulance was called on February 14 as it was thought she might have had a stroke and although paramedics wanted to take her to hospital she refused.The court heard when she was warned the risks of not going to hospital included that she might die, Mrs Mogford replied: 'Good.'After being told this by paramedics on the phone, Pickering, who lived near Guildford, replied her mother would not want to go to hospital as 'she had wanted to die for some time so that she could be with her husband'.Prosecutors said there was 'no suggestion Mrs Mogford was suicidal', adding: 'She had not been trying to kill herself, and had not asked anyone else to help her do so.'A GP gave Mrs Mogford two injections of morphine and haloperidol, recording this in a prescription note at 6.10pm.He returned once his shift was over and administered another injection of morphine because the 100-year-old had still been in discomfort.The GP left the remaining ampoules at the house in case they needed to be administered by another doctor called out overnight.Jurors were told that because Mrs Mogford's death appeared entirely natural at the time, there was no post-mortem examination. Her funeral took place a month later, and she was buried in the graveyard of the local church.Her children's administration of morphine did not come to light until much later when for unconnected reasons, police examined the phone of Pickering's husband, Paul Pidgeon, and discovered messages from Pickering 'referring to the administration of morphine'.Jurors were told Pickering also said 'for f***'s sake mother, hurry up and die' in the presence of her carers, gardener and brother on the evening of February 14.In texts to friends on February 14, Pickering wrote: 'Just wish she would go to sleep now and not suffer,' and 'hoping she will slip away in the night'.In another message to her friend at 4.41pm, she wrote: 'Think we might give her some morphine tonight, but don't tell anyone.'In a message to a friend which prosecutors say shows she knew they 'might get her in trouble', Pickering wrote: 'Two injections from the Doc but not enough, just between me and you and the gatepost Jeremy and I have given two more and still not worked.'Shortly before 10pm, Pickering messaged her brother: 'Can I give some more? It's awful listening to this,' with Mogford replying: 'Yes, go ahead.'Pickering then replied: 'Ok will wait a little while, she is fast asleep,' with prosecutors alleging this means Mrs Mogford was not in pain at this point.In a message to her husband Mr Pidgeon, Pickering said: 'Asked J if he is up for me giving more morphine,' and in a subsequent text: 'I am actually killing her.'In subsequent texts, she wrote: 'J has said go for it with another dose. I will give it a little while, watching Foyle at the mo.'J said go for it, but easier said than done. Maybe I will have another glass and it might be easier.'Never killed anyone before, but I have often thought about it.'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 court heard that in a message from Mogford to Pickering on the day of Elizabeth II's death, the restaurateur wrote: 'Do you think they will morphine Queenie up like we did?'Permission was obtained to exhume Mrs Mogford's coffin so a post-mortem examination could take place on June 1 2023 – more than a year after she had been buried.The post-mortem exam confirmed there was morphine in her body, but because of the passage of time it was 'impossible to calculate how much morphine Mrs Mogford had been given before she died', jurors were told.Mr Christopher said it was also impossible 'to say definitively, from the scientific evidence alone, whether more morphine had been given to her than was contained in the injections alone given by the GP'.A pathologist subsequently gave Mrs Mogford's cause of death as 'unascertained'.Jurors were told Mrs Mogford had been prescribed temazepam for some time to help her sleep.The court heard both temazepam and morphine have the effect of suppressing breathing, and prosecutors say the effect of the morphine will have been 'more consequential' as a result of the presence of the temazepam.High Court judge Mr Justice Jay told jurors that Mogford and Pickering, who are on bail, would sit with their solicitors rather than in the dock to 'provide instructions as the case develops' and that the trial would feature 'complicated expert evidence'.Mrs Mogford's husband Peter, a hotelier and Dunkirk veteran, died in 2015 aged 95. The couple had married in 1946 when he was decommissioned from the Army after service at Dunkirk and in North Africa, Cyprus, Italy and India. The couple have another son, Martyn. In a death notice Mrs Mogford was described as 'fun loving; always generating joy and laughter'. Her cottage sold for £1.8million in 2022. Jeremy Mogford said the accusation was 'nonsense' after he was charged with murder last year. In a statement released at the time he said: 'Our mother was nearly 101 years old and died, as her doctor stated, of old age.'The trial continues.