84-year-old who killed stroke-victim wife spared jail

A FRAIL 84-year-old who killed his ailing wife after becoming terrified that she would be taken into a care home wept as he was spared jail.

Edward Chopping, a retired Ford worker, hanged wife Joan from the bannister at their home in East Ham, London, last May.

He then tried to take an overdose by swallowing all the pills in the house and hang himself, but the rope broke.

Emergency services discovered his wife's body the next morning while Chopping was sitting on a stool sobbing.

Afterwards he said: "I loved her so much and could not see her suffer any more. I know it was wrong but I'm not sorry I done it. She's in a better place now."

The Old Bailey heard that 84-year-old Mrs Chopping's health declined when she suffered a stroke and her husband of 67 years had struggled to look after her. Chopping pleaded guilty to manslaughter and was given a suspended prison sentence.