A woman in the UK who killed her son (a 36 year old man with Downs Syndrome whom she had cared for her entire life) and then attempted to kill herself, was spared a jail sentence. The judge who believed that the extraordinary circumstances that led her to commit murder warranted an extra helping of mercy.

Mr Justice Gross sentenced her to two years’ prison, suspended for 18 months, and told her: “The pressures you faced were extreme.”

He said that, while all human life was sacrosanct, her case had “exceptional factors” and “the merciful and right course” was to suspend her sentence.

“You will be punished as long as you live, in the knowledge of what you have done and what you have lost.”

Sasha Wass, defending, said Markcrow, who had pleaded with the authorities for help with caring for her 16st son as his condition deteriorated, lost her mind last March.

“She was exhausted beyond reason,” said Miss Wass. “Patrick had spent the entire day listening to the same Elton John CD, shouting the word ‘Elton’ repeatedly. She was literally at her wits’ end.

“She was overwhelmed by feelings of despair and she wanted to die, but all the time there was the worry of what would happen to Patrick.”

Ah, yes, the Elton John defense.

Well, that’s alright, then.

Read the story. (Link added with a belated, “Oops.")