Oxford hotel owner and sister ‘murdered mum with morphine’, court hears

In his opening speech, Pickering’s defence barrier Benjamin Newton KC told the jury this was his client using “gallows humour to cope with life’s difficulties”.

In subsequent texts, the jury heard 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.”

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”.

They also face an alternative charge of attempted murder.

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 £35m in 1996.

The trial continues.