Devoted husband, 84, who battered wife, 86, to death with an iron bar rather than see her go into care home weeps as judge frees him

AN "utterly devoted" husband who battered his dementia-stricken wife to death with an iron bar to avoid seeing her move to a care home was spared jailed today.

It was a tragic promise that led Lawrence Franks, 84, to kill his beloved spouse of 62 years in a heartbreaking "act of mercy".

In the last ten years of her life, Patricia Franks, 86, begged her husband never to let her be taken into a care home.

But as the dementia-sufferer's condition deteriorated and she was no longer able to recognise him, frail Mr Franks found it increasingly difficult to cope.

Mrs Franks was practically immobile and incontinent when her partner began to realise he could not manage on his own.

Days before reaching breaking point he suffered a hernia due to his physical excursions in moving her to and from her bed and favourite armchair.

Facing the ''inevitable prospect'' of 86-year-old Mrs Franks having to leave their matrimonial property in Gatley, near Stockport, Greater Manchester, he picked up a scaffolding pole and repeatedly hit her over the back of the head.

Believing the blows had not been fatal, he then smothered her with a pillow.

Manchester Crown Court heard how Mrs Franks was ''completely unaware'' of the violence being meted out on her. She was found dead when police were called to the property.

Mr Franks, a former lifeguard and bus driver, was later charged with murder following the 9am tragedy on Sunday July 8.

But a compassionate judge today accepted his guilty plea to manslaughter due to diminished responsibility.

The OAP was given two years jail, suspended for two years, after Judge David Stockdale QC ruled he was a ''devoted man" who showed ''nothing but love and affection'' for his wife.

The judge said: ''This is a most unusual and very sad case and most would say heartbreaking.

"You and your wife were happily married for 62 years. You were utterly devoted to each other throughout your marriage and during the decline in her health as you cared for her.

''You took care of her despite your own age without outside help and your dedicated to her was undoubtedly unconditional. I have heard there were alterations to your own home including rails, converting the garage into a downstairs bedroom for her so she could continue to live at home as was her wish.

''She was particularly anxious not to be placed in a care home, and this was said so repeatedly that this was a genuine concern. But as her health deteriorated, the burden of looking after her became even harder for you.

''Yet you continued to care for your wife without assistance."

The judge said that Mr Franks had acted when he found her "unable to move, doubly incontinent and completely incapacitated," adding: "She did not recognise you".

He said: ''You did not cope with that any longer and as you say it that was the inevitable prospect of her being moved into a care home. That was the last thing you or your wife wanted."

Earlier the court heard how Mrs Franks, a retired clerical worker at Altrincham General Hospital, had been diagnosed with dementia around 10 years ago.

''She was completely unaware of what happened to her," the judge said. "There was an abnormality in your mental function. Doctors have confirmed this was diminished responsibility."

He described Mr Franks as man "on hitherto entirely good character".

In a victim impact statement Mrs Franks’ nephew Samuel Whiteside said the family bore "no malice" towards Mr Franks and "wished he had sought help from professionals".

“We believe as a family that Lawrence Franks did what he did because he couldn’t bear seeing her as she was,” he added.

In his concluding remarks, the judge said: "The act was a spur of the moment and your genuine belief this was an act of mercy. No two cases are the same. This is far from showing malice or ill will.