Murder-accused siblings’ mother ‘in agony’ Oxford Crown Court hears

David Worsfold, a paramedic who assessed Mrs Mogford, said it was obvious she was in pain and that he would have administered her morphine if there had been any available in the ambulance.

He told jurors if he had known Oramorph was in the house, he may have administered a small dose.

He believed Mrs Mogford had had an aortic aneurysm and recommended to her that she should go to hospital, which she declined.

When he discussed the risks with her, “the main one being death”, he recalled that she replied: “Good.”

The court heard Mrs Mogford was described as “EOL”, which refers to end of life care.

Previously, Pickering’s barrister Benjamin Newton KC told the jury her texts were “gallows humour to cope with life’s difficulties”.

In one text exchange, the jury heard she wrote: “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.”

The siblings also face an alternative charge of attempted murder.

Mogford sold the Browns chain, which has a large presence in university towns such as Oxford and Cambridge, to Bass Brewery for £35m in 1996.

He also founded various independent hotels and restaurants in Oxford, including the Old Bank Hotel and Old Parsonage Hotel, Quod Restaurant, Parsonage Grill and Gee’s Restaurant.

The trial continues.