I think I've killed him... he was getting on my nerves: What pensioner said after she throttled dying man - but court still rules it was a 'mercy killing'

PUBLISHED: 18:49 GMT, 17 May 2013 | UPDATED: 22:43 GMT, 17 May 2013

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Free: Joyce Evans walked free from court today after a judge likened her actions to a mercy killing

A pensioner who killed her ex-partner because he was ‘getting on her nerves’ walked free yesterday after a judge likened her actions to a mercy killing.
Joyce Evans, 69, put a Tottenham Hotspur carrier bag over the head of retired soldier Colin Ballinger before throttling him for up to 30 seconds.
When shocked neighbours discovered the scene, Evans told them: ‘I think  I’ve killed him. He was getting on my nerves.’
But the retired furnisher polisher later changed her story, claiming that terminally-ill Mr Ballinger, 66, had begged her to help him end his life.
She was cleared of murder at the Old Bailey yesterday but convicted of manslaughter.
Judge Gerald Gordon handed her a suspended sentence, saying that there were ‘clear similarities with mercy killing’. The case was described as tragic for all involved.
Evans claimed she was suffering from depression and a personality disorder. Mr Ballinger had terminal liver disease and, as his condition deteriorated, social services had offered to help care for him. But Evans rejected the offer in favour of doing so herself and collecting the benefit payments made to her partner.
During the ten-day trial, the jury heard how the couple had been in a relationship years ago, but had separated because of his excessive drinking.
When he found out he had terminal liver disease, he begged to stay with her for the final months of his life.
He moved into her maisonette in Upper Holloway, North London, in April last year and was totally dependent on her for his care.

Evans, who had been drinking, finally snapped on July 30 after months of constant demands.
Following the disturbance, neighbours called an ambulance and Mr Ballinger was taken to the Whittington Hospital, North London, where he died the following day.
A post-mortem examination found he died from the combined effects of strangulation and being suffocated with a plastic bag.
When she was arrested over the death, Evans, who suffered from long-term depression, told police: ‘I should have killed myself afterwards.’ She later claimed in a police interview: ‘He was saying, “I’ve had enough.” He said, “Help me.” With that I got a carrier bag and I stuck it on his head.’

Court: Joyce Evans was freed at the Old Bailey today

Prosecutor Zoe Johnson QC told the trial: ‘It goes without saying this is a tragic case for all those involved.
‘Colin Ballinger lost his life through violence rather than through the natural process of death.
‘The fact he was dying is of no relevance – life is sacred irrespective of how much longer there is left to enjoy.
'The defendant lived a long and unblemished life and was clearly loved by all those who knew her. She had been an upstanding citizen until that fateful night.
‘But there is no such thing as a mercy killing in English law.’
Evans’s actions were ‘born out of frustration when her inhibitions were loosened through drink’, she added.
Social services had offered to help care for Mr Ballinger, but Evans rejected this, said the prosecutor, who added: ‘Coincidentally, on that same day, it became clear Colin had been awarded the higher rate attendance allowance benefit.’ Richard Carey-Hughes, for Evans, said: ‘Under normal circumstances she was probably the last person in the world who should have become Mr Ballinger’s carer.
‘She had no moral duty to do so, nor familial duty.
‘During the last months of his life he was looked after by the person he wanted to have look after him.’ After the verdict, the judge told Evans: ‘With the enormous benefit of hindsight and knowledge, in view of your own health – your arthritis, your long-term depression – far more active intervention was necessary to get you out of the situation you were in.
‘Your depression in particular built up to what was described as a catastrophic event, a pattern that had occurred in the past.’
The judge said the killing was clearly a ‘grave and serious matter’ but noted that Evans had already spent nine and a half months remanded in prison awaiting trial.
She was handed a 12-month sentence, suspended for two years and ordered to carry out 80 hours’ unpaid work.

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