Former Winchester mayor cleared of trying to smother his dying mother

A former mayor accused of trying to smother his dying mother with a pillow has been cleared after a judge ruled his confessions of killing her were inherently unreliable. David McLean was accused of attempting to murder his 92-year-old mother, Margaret McLean, by covering her face as he told her: "Sorry, Mum." McLean, 72, a former mayor of Winchester, allegedly confessed that he had murdered his mother because he could not bear to see her suffering any longer, which the prosecution said had been an act of "pure and simple unadulterated love".

However, a jury at Winchester crown court was directed by Mrs Justice McGowan to find him not guilty of attempted murder because she deemed his admissions were not reliable. McLean's barrister, Sarah Jones KC, had argued he was..



. Steven Morris.