A 70-year-old man has appeared in Court on 6 December charged with murdering his severely disabled wife who suffered from Parkinson’s disease.
Stuart Mungall, of Hendham Road, Tooting, is suspected of actively taking part in ending the life of his wife, Joan, 69, in a “mercy killing”. He appeared via video-link at Sutton Magistrates’ Court.
Mr Mungall, an actor who was known for his performances in Casualty, the Bill and the detective series Dempsey and Makepeace, was forced to sell his garden centre business in South London six months ago due to his wife Joan's illness.
A friend of the couple explained: “They were absolutely devoted to each other. But the last year before they sold the garden centre was quite difficult for them because of Joan’s worsening health.”
Last month, a senior Court of Appeal judge said in a ruling on a case of a mother who killed her brain-damaged son that “mercy killing” is murder. Frances Inglis, who claimed that she had acted “with love” when she injected the severely disabled 22-year-old with a lethal dose of heroin in 2008, was sentenced to life with a minimum term of nine years.
“The law of murder does not distinguish between murder committed for malevolent reasons and murder motivated by familial love. Mercy killing is murder,” said the judge.
In July 2010, another man was convicted of the attempted murder of his disabled wife after he failed to smother her with a pillow in a “mercy killing”. John Millar, 67, told the court: “I thought it would be a good thing to do at the time… for both of us". Mr Millar was jailed for four and a half years.
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