The heart-breaking call made by a pensioner who beat his wife to death after finding himself unable to cope with her dementia has been revealed.
Lawrence Franks believed he was performing an "act of mercy" when he killed his wife of 62 years on July 7 last year.
The 84-year-old, from Stockport, beat his dementia-stricken wife Patricia with a scaffolding pole, before smothering her with a pillow, in what was described as an "exceptional" and "heart-rending" case.
Now, the details of the heart-breaking case have been laid bare in the latest episode of BBC One documentary Ambulance, The Mirror reports.
In the TV show, it was heard that Mr Franks had promised his wife would never go into a care home after being diagnosed with dementia about a decade earlier.
But, as her condition worsened, Mrs Franks became practically immobile, incontinent and tragically no longer recognised her husband.
On July 7, 2018, the pensioner reached breaking point.
In a heart-breaking scene in the programme, viewers watched the moment Mr Franks called 999 to report his wife's death, no longer able to care for her needs.
The former bus driver tells the operator: "I've killed my wife.
"She can't walk. Incontinent. And I can't cope. So I've killed her."
When asked about weapons, the man said: "Only a lump of iron."
And tragically, when told that emergency services are on the way, Mr Franks adds: "There's a little girl's party next door, don't use sirens and spoil it.
"She'd dead, that's all there is."
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In Manchester Crown Court, it was heard that Mr Franks "genuinely believed" he was performing an "act of mercy".
In November last year he pleaded guilty to manslaughter with diminished responsibility, after suffering from an ‘adjustment disorder’ brought on by the stress of caring for his wife.
It meant, the Manchester Evening News reported at the time, that his ‘judgement to make rational decisions was substantially impaired’.
Handing down a two-year prison sentence, suspended for two years, Judge David Stockdale told him: “Your devotion to her was total and unconditional.
“She was particularly anxious not to be placed in a care home and said so repeatedly, particularly as her health deteriorated.
“But the burden of looking after her became impossible for you.
“You showed your wife nothing but love and affection and for the last 10 years tended to her every need. Your devotion was quite exceptional.
“There is no sentence I can pass that will turn back the clock or recompense for the loss of Patricia Franks’ life.
“In my judgement this is an exceptional case.”
The next episode of Ambulance will be shown at 9pm on Thursday on BBC One.
