Father 'talked of killing son'

The mother of a terminally ill boy suffocated by his father today told a court her husband had said he would kill the child if he thought he was suffering.

Mary Wragg said husband Andrew had made the remark to the mother of another handicapped child.

Mrs Wragg described her husband as impatient, intolerant, disinterested and "embarrassed" about the day-to-day care of their 10-year old son Jacob. She told the murder trial jury that Wragg hated "hospitals and ill people".

Struggling with tears and dressed in black, Mrs Wragg, 41, wore a lock of her dead son's hair pinned to her lapel and clutched a dummy as she gave evidence at Lewes Crown Court.

The mother of two brought two photographs of Jacob into the witness-box which she fingered delicately as she answered questions.

Jacob had suffered from the rare genetic disorder Hunter Syndrome. The court has heard that he may have had three more years to live.

Wragg, 37, has admitted suffocating his son with a pillow at the family home in Worthing last July but claims it was a mercy killing. The prosecution has claimed it was "a selfish killing done in drink" because Wragg could not cope with his son's handicap.

Mrs Wragg said that on the day Jacob died he had been happy, lively and in good health considering his condition. He was diagnosed with the disorder when she was seven months pregnant. She said she was advised to have the pregnancy terminated and given two hours notice to make her choice. She was also advised to go through the labour and the couple named the stillborn boy Henry.

Later, when Jacob was being treated at hospital in Manchester Mrs Wragg befriended the mother of a handicapped girl and they talked at length about the girl's treatment.

"I clearly remember Andrew saying to her that if he thought Jacob was suffering he would put a pillow over his face," said Mrs Wragg.

"He said it once with our parents when discussing Henry's death. They were terribly upset and the discussion was that it was all for the best. It came up several times in conversation with friends. I felt it was something he said to deal with the difficulty of the situation and the fact he felt powerless to be able to provide an answer or solution to the problem.

"I didn't agree with it. My attitude was to get on caring for Jacob and make the most of what we had."

In their 12-year marriage Wragg moved around Britain and for long periods was away from the family home. He had a variety of jobs including working for a security firm, and he joined the Army and served abroad.

On a training course with the SAS in Catterick, North Yorkshire there was a "incident" in Harrogate and he was "effectively dismissed from the SAS" losing his badge and beret, the court heard. The Army gave him one year's unpaid leave to cope with the loss of Henry and to care for Jacob. Mrs Wragg had two more failed pregnancies before their second son, George, was born in 1998.

"I was always Jacob's main carer," said Mrs Wragg. "Andy found certain aspects very difficult and an embarrassment. He just was not very tolerant of the extras that had to go into Jacob's care."

In 1999 Wragg walked out on the marriage, five months after borrowing £12,000 from his mother-in-law to set up a video rental business. The couple were later reconciled but Wragg started drinking heavily, the court heard.

Wragg denies murder but admits manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility because of a temporary abnormality of mind.

The case continues.