(no subject)
Nov. 10th, 2004 06:01 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
conuly
Suicide duo's despair note
By SUN ONLINE REPORTER
A TRAGIC couple, unable to cope with their daughter's mental health problems, penned a desperate note to a newspaper before carrying out their suicide pact, it emerged today.
The depressed couple, Bill and Wendy Ainscow, swallowed a cocktail of drugs before walking into the sea off Tenerife last week to end their misery.
Mr Ainscow, 75, died but his 64-year-old wife survived and is recovering in hospital.
In their suicide note to the Liverpool Daily Post, the couple revealed how their 33-year-old daughter Lisa, who suffers from Asperger's Syndrome and other mental health problems, made their lives unbearable.
Asperger's Syndrome is an autism-like disorder which often manifests in eccentric behaviour.
Their daughter's constant demands for cash and indulgent shopping sprees racked up huge debts resulting in her father being thrown behind bars.
Last year Mr Ainscow, a former sub-postmaster, was jailed for stealing £50,000 in benefits books to fund his daughter's addiction.
But the desperate father was freed by the Court of Appeal after it heard the family's unusual circumstances.
In the note, the Birmingham couple, who were orginally from Merseyside, also claimed the NHS failed to help them look after their daughter, who was “spending money faster than I could earn it".
The letter reads: “We realise now that this is an impossible task which we have had to abandon as she (Lisa) is proving to be too much for us to cope with.
“There is still no attempt to provide any form of help, therefore we have chosen that the only way out is to end our lives.
“...We came to Tenerife on a cheap one-way flight and have been sleeping on the beach for the last three nights while we pondered the situation, but we realise that we will have to end our lives as there is NO help whatsoever.”
It went on to say that their complaint to the NHS had made little progress and asked the newspaper to help their daughter, whose rent would run out in six months.
The couple were pleased when their daughter was sectioned under the Mental Health Act in 2003 but devastated when she was discharged 10 months later.
Her care is currently the joint responsibility of Wirral and Birmingham social services, which were unavailable for comment this morning.
Okay, I have a question. Why were they still paying for their daughter's things? Look, I know they cared about her, sure, but surely cutting off the money would be a less drastic measure than suicide?
*grumbles*
By SUN ONLINE REPORTER
A TRAGIC couple, unable to cope with their daughter's mental health problems, penned a desperate note to a newspaper before carrying out their suicide pact, it emerged today.
The depressed couple, Bill and Wendy Ainscow, swallowed a cocktail of drugs before walking into the sea off Tenerife last week to end their misery.
Mr Ainscow, 75, died but his 64-year-old wife survived and is recovering in hospital.
In their suicide note to the Liverpool Daily Post, the couple revealed how their 33-year-old daughter Lisa, who suffers from Asperger's Syndrome and other mental health problems, made their lives unbearable.
Asperger's Syndrome is an autism-like disorder which often manifests in eccentric behaviour.
Their daughter's constant demands for cash and indulgent shopping sprees racked up huge debts resulting in her father being thrown behind bars.
Last year Mr Ainscow, a former sub-postmaster, was jailed for stealing £50,000 in benefits books to fund his daughter's addiction.
But the desperate father was freed by the Court of Appeal after it heard the family's unusual circumstances.
In the note, the Birmingham couple, who were orginally from Merseyside, also claimed the NHS failed to help them look after their daughter, who was “spending money faster than I could earn it".
The letter reads: “We realise now that this is an impossible task which we have had to abandon as she (Lisa) is proving to be too much for us to cope with.
“There is still no attempt to provide any form of help, therefore we have chosen that the only way out is to end our lives.
“...We came to Tenerife on a cheap one-way flight and have been sleeping on the beach for the last three nights while we pondered the situation, but we realise that we will have to end our lives as there is NO help whatsoever.”
It went on to say that their complaint to the NHS had made little progress and asked the newspaper to help their daughter, whose rent would run out in six months.
The couple were pleased when their daughter was sectioned under the Mental Health Act in 2003 but devastated when she was discharged 10 months later.
Her care is currently the joint responsibility of Wirral and Birmingham social services, which were unavailable for comment this morning.
Okay, I have a question. Why were they still paying for their daughter's things? Look, I know they cared about her, sure, but surely cutting off the money would be a less drastic measure than suicide?
*grumbles*
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no subject
Date: 2004-11-10 03:17 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-11-10 03:26 pm (UTC)"Their daughter's constant demands for cash and indulgent shopping sprees racked up huge debts resulting in her father being thrown behind bars."
Wrong. Their giving in to her demands was what racked up the debts.
"Last year Mr Ainscow, a former sub-postmaster, was jailed for stealing £50,000 in benefits books to fund his daughter's addiction."
In other words, he committed a felony rather than tell her "no"?
"But the desperate father was freed by the Court of Appeal after it heard the family's unusual circumstances."
This just pisses me off. Yet another case of a crime committed by the parent of an autistic being excused because the child made life so unbearable.
"The couple were pleased when their daughter was sectioned under the Mental Health Act in 2003 but devastated when she was discharged 10 months later."
... that's not exactly evidence in support of the notion that they cared about her.
At least they tried to do themselves in, instead of taking the more usual course of killing her.
no subject
Date: 2004-11-10 03:31 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-11-10 03:41 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-11-10 03:56 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-11-10 04:25 pm (UTC)b) 'cause the parents are.
Those are my best guesses, anyway.
A "good story" indeed
Date: 2004-11-11 02:37 am (UTC)- Aspie pedophile
- Aspie cracker
- Aspie murderer
Yes, those are actual newspaper stories I've read. *wince*
Not once is it mentioned that on average, autistics are a lot less likely to commit crimes than the average population... well, at least according to Attwood.
Duh.
no subject
Date: 2004-11-11 06:28 am (UTC)Bearing in mind that this comes from The Sun (yellow press of the yellowest kind) I'd say that this is the biggest influence.
Take the story this article tells seriously, sure, but look at the actual article with extreme skepticism.
no subject
Date: 2004-11-10 04:39 pm (UTC)If in 33 years you havent worked out how to say "no" thern the problem is in YOUR head.
no subject
Date: 2004-11-10 03:17 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-11-10 03:26 pm (UTC)"Their daughter's constant demands for cash and indulgent shopping sprees racked up huge debts resulting in her father being thrown behind bars."
Wrong. Their giving in to her demands was what racked up the debts.
"Last year Mr Ainscow, a former sub-postmaster, was jailed for stealing £50,000 in benefits books to fund his daughter's addiction."
In other words, he committed a felony rather than tell her "no"?
"But the desperate father was freed by the Court of Appeal after it heard the family's unusual circumstances."
This just pisses me off. Yet another case of a crime committed by the parent of an autistic being excused because the child made life so unbearable.
"The couple were pleased when their daughter was sectioned under the Mental Health Act in 2003 but devastated when she was discharged 10 months later."
... that's not exactly evidence in support of the notion that they cared about her.
At least they tried to do themselves in, instead of taking the more usual course of killing her.
no subject
Date: 2004-11-10 03:31 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-11-10 03:41 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-11-10 03:56 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-11-10 04:25 pm (UTC)b) 'cause the parents are.
Those are my best guesses, anyway.
A "good story" indeed
Date: 2004-11-11 02:37 am (UTC)- Aspie pedophile
- Aspie cracker
- Aspie murderer
Yes, those are actual newspaper stories I've read. *wince*
Not once is it mentioned that on average, autistics are a lot less likely to commit crimes than the average population... well, at least according to Attwood.
Duh.
no subject
Date: 2004-11-11 06:28 am (UTC)Bearing in mind that this comes from The Sun (yellow press of the yellowest kind) I'd say that this is the biggest influence.
Take the story this article tells seriously, sure, but look at the actual article with extreme skepticism.
no subject
Date: 2004-11-10 04:39 pm (UTC)If in 33 years you havent worked out how to say "no" thern the problem is in YOUR head.