Retired Lancashire Police officer jailed for murdering his mother
John Green smothered Bernadette to death after sending texts talking about how "she refuses to die"
Last updated 11th Dec 2018
A retired detective driven by hatred to smother his elderly and frail mother has been jailed for a minimum of 14 years.
Stephen Green, 66, was unable to wait any longer for his 88-year-old mother Bernadette to die so he murdered her at their family home in Preston, Lancashire, on May 18.
Green initially convinced authorities his mother died of old age, but a coroner's officer noted Mrs Green had not seen a doctor since October 2013 - and a closer examination of her emaciated body revealed a number of pressure sores.
A post-mortem was ordered and concluded Mrs Green had been smothered and that an extensive area of rotting blackened skin around her buttocks was evidence of severe neglect''.
Green's motive for the killing was then uncovered in a series of text messages he sent to his daughter, Preston Crown Court heard.
"This thing is flatly refusing to die. I am going to have to kill it''.
On New Year's Eve last year, he wrote: Just told the cow what she is. If that bitch doesn't die before I get my life back I am going to be the nastiest poltergeist the UNIVERSE has EVER seen.''
Just five days before Mrs Green's death, he texted: Been a grim and gruesome five weeks here. Last two weeks horrendous, she's at death's door but nobody's opening it. Shouldn't be allowed.''
Hours after she died, he wrote: That's it sweetheart. It was a slow, miserable, messy end but she's finally gone. Now to something more important...''
In other text messages from 2015 - not put before the jury for legal reasons - he wrote: Why does she take the joy out of life. I need to be free'' andThis thing is flatly refusing to die. I am going to have to kill it''.
Prosecutor Francis McEntree said Green had portrayed himself to neighbours in Inkerman Street as a caring and attentive son'', but in reality he was full of animosity for his mother who he saw as a burden.
The former CID officer with Lancashire Constabulary, who left the force on health grounds, was sole carer for his mother in an estranged family after she injured herself in a fall shortly after he returned home in 2009 following the failure of his marriage.
Green dialled 999 on the evening of May 18 and told an operator that attempts at resuscitation would be pointless as he was certain she was already dead.
Mrs Green's body was found under dirty bedding within a generally cluttered and dirty room'', which Green explained was due to self-neglect as he claimed his mother had given up on life following the death of his father.
The defendant then proceeded to cremate his mother, a strong Roman Catholic, with no service and simply scattered her ashes.
When he was arrested the following month, Green questioned the post-mortem findings and said: Did the pathologist look at the right body?''
He denied neglecting or smothering her and suggested she died of old age or accidental suffocation.
Giving evidence, Green said the text messages were silly talk'' and he was merelyletting off steam''.
Jurors took less than three hours to convict Green of murder.
Giving a life sentence to Green, Judge Mark Brown, the Recorder of Preston, told him: There is no doubt in my mind that during the last few weeks of her life she Mrs Green was severely neglected.
The only explanation for such neglect is that you hoped to hasten her decline and perhaps death by it.
It seems you did what you could to prevent other people from seeing her and took no positive steps to ensure she received proper medical treatment. Eventually you decided to smother her.
I am satisfied this was not a mercy killing and nor was it a killing in a moment of frustration and despair.
Your mother was a good age, but was entitled to live out the rest of her life to the full. There were no natural diseases or reasons to suggest she might not have lived for some further time had she been cared for properly.
You are a former police officer and it is astonishing that such an individual with that background would have done what you did to your own mother.''
Green showed no emotion as sentence was passed