A London bus driver's wife and daughter broke down in tears today as they were jailed for a total of 18 years for plotting to kill him by lacing his cherry Lambrini with anti-freeze on Christmas Day.

Jacqueline Patrick, 55, sobbed in the dock as she was jailed for 15 years for a 'cold and calculated' attempt to kill her husband Douglas, while her 21-year-old daughter Katherine collapsed in floods of tears as she was jailed for three years for helping her mother.

The court heard how Patrick, of Norwood, south London, laced her husband of 26 years' favourite tipple with poison with the encouragement of their daughter following a row during Christmas 2013.

Jacqueline Patrick, 55 (left), broke down in tears as she was jailed for 15 years for a 'cold and calculated' attempt to kill her husband, which saw her lace her husband Douglas' cherry Lambrini with anti-freeze. Her 21-year-old daughter Katherine (right) collapsed in floods of tears as she was jailed for three years for helping her

She had first tried to kill him in October of that year, but when he survived she continued to put harmful substances in his drinks.

In the attack on Christmas Day, she slipped anti-freeze into two glasses of cherry Lambrini he had with a late night supper and the 72-year-old retired bus driver went to bed feeling 'particularly drunk'.

The following morning, his wife called an ambulance after finding him collapsed at their £400,000 cul-de-sac home.

In the ambulance on the way to Kings College Hospital in south London, she handed a typed 'Do Not Resuscitate' note to paramedics which claimed her husband did not want to be revived.

It asked for him to be able to 'die with dignaty (sic)' and had been falsely signed by him – after being mocked-up by his wife.

In the ambulance, Patrick also falsely claimed her husband had muttered: 'Goodbye, I done it and I don't want to be here anymore.'

Mr Patrick was put into an induced coma which lasted for nearly two weeks, and blood tests revealed that he had been poisoned with anti-freeze.

His wife suggested her husband may have drunk a blue liquid by mistake, but suspicious doctors decided to call police.

Detectives found bottles of anti-freeze and a bottle of cherry Lambrini at the family home and when Mr Patrick regained consciousness on January 8 last year, he said he was not suicidal and denied drinking anti-freeze to kill himself.

He then pointed to the Christmas Lambrini drinks which he said left him 'drunker than usual'.

Mr Patrick also told officers he had suffered a similar collapse in October 2013, which left him in hospital for eight days.

However, he and his wife put it down to a combination of 'bootleg' lager and a bad reaction to medication.

The mother and daughter were arrested the following day and gave accounts in interview which were riddled with inconsistencies.

Patrick claimed she had searched online for anti-freeze poisoning because a friend's dog had swallowed some, but the friend turned out not to own a dog. She also claimed she had bought anti-freeze twice when her husband had asked for it.

London bus driver Douglas Patrick, 72, (pictured) suffered 'physical and psychological harm' when he drank cherry Lambrini which had been - unbeknownst to him - laced with anti-freeze on Christmas Day 2013

Jacqueline Patrick slipped anti-freeze into two glasses of cherry Lambrini (left) drinks her husband had with a late night supper on Christmas Day 2013. Right: Anti-freeze found at the Patrick's house following the incident

However, it was a series of text messages between the mother and daughter that exposed the deadly plot.

The messages included: 'I got the stuff I will give him some later delete txt tell no one ok' and 'I'm given him some more at dinner' on October 26, 2013.

On November 17, 2013, Patrick told her daughter: 'He feels sick again I gave him more delete this'.

On November 28, she told her: 'May be someone could attack him when he goes to look at the car' followed shortly by 'Delete that'.

And on Christmas Day, 2013, at 11.09pm, Katherine text her mother to say 'Dads not feeling well.'

Prosecutor Sam Brown said: 'This was a concerted, planned, and persistent attempt by Jacqueline Patrick to murder Douglas Patrick.

'It was carried out in autumn and winter of 2013 and the effect was to be achieved by poisoning over a period of time.

Jacqueline Patrick was jailed for 15 years for each of the attempted murder, to be served concurrently, while her daughter Katherine was jailed for three years for encouraging and assisting her mother

'The method of poisoning was chosen as it was hoped the lethal dose and its effects could be disguised as adverse reaction to medication during a period of ill health or as a consequence of a suicide attempt due to declining health.

'He had no intention of harming himself and he never did.'

Mr Brown said the mother and daughter may have got away with the poisoning had it not been for the vigilance of the doctor treating Mr Patrick.

The doctor saw the typed note supposedly from Mr Patrick, saying: 'I Douglas Patrick do not wish to be revived as I would like to die with dignaty (sic) with my family by my side.'

Mr Brown said: 'The doctor discounted it immediately as it was unsigned and undated and lacked the essential particulars.'

He said the doctor then quizzed Patrick about what could have caused her husband's collapse.

'Placed on the spot, it was very evident a series of inconsistent explanations occurring', said Mr Brown.

Patrick admitted two counts of attempted murder in September, while her daughter pleaded guilty to encouraging the poisoning bid.

Sentencing the pair at London Crown Court today, Judge Nic Madge said there were 'clearly premeditated and planned attempts to kill' Mr Patrick.

He said to Patrick: 'With a cold and calculated determination, you bought the anti-freeze, you administered that poison twice.

'The effects of administering anti-freeze can be particularly horrible. Anti-freeze poisoning, even if it does not result in death, may result in loss of the use of the kidneys, blindness and deafness.

'After the first attempt you discovered that you had not given your husband enough to kill him and so you tried again.

'You typed out a "do not resuscitate note" which you handed to the paramedics.

'You involved your daughter in this offending behaviour, and you attempted to turn the blame away from yourself.'

The judge, noticing Patrick shaking her head vigorously in the dock, stopped his sentencing to reprimand her.

'I'm being struck by you continually shaking your head, please don't shake your head', he told her.

He continued: 'You put anti-freeze in a bottle of cherry Lambrini and you poured your husband a glass - he probably drank two-and-a-half glasses of it.

'There's no doubt you caused physical and psychological harm.'

Jacqueline Patrick also wrote a fake note, signed by her husband Douglas Patrick, which claimed he had asked to 'die with dignaty (sic)'. Doctor's ignored the note after police realised it had been faked by his wife

Anti-freeze was later found at the Patrick's house following the incident which occurred on Christmas Day

The judge accepted that there had been turmoil in the marriage, and that Mr Patrick had beaten his daughter when she was a child as punishment.

'This was an unhappy marriage that got worse towards the end, with heated arguments and constant frustration', he said.

'I disregard suggestions previously made that Mr Patrick was an abusive and violent husband.

'The Crown accept that as a child Katherine was physically chastised but do not accept that Mr Patrick's conduct was unlawful.'

The judge said the text messages shared between the pair show that the women knew what they were doing and sustained it over a number of weeks.

'Delete this one but the anti-freeze is working', Patrick said to her daughter in one message.

The judge said the impact on Mr Patrick had been significant, leaving him with problems walking and speaking, a swollen neck, kidney damage, and emotional suffering.

His life has been totally ruined', he said.

IMPLICATING MESSAGES SHARED BETWEEN MOTHER AND DAUGHTER October 26, 2013 - 'I got the stuff I will give him some later delete txt tell no one ok' and 'I'm given him some more at dinner' November 28, 2013 - 'May be someone could attack him when he goes to look at the car' followed shortly by 'Delete that' November 17, 2013 - Patrick told her daughter: 'He feels sick again I gave him more delete this' Christmas Day, 2013, at 11.09pm - Katherine to Patrick: 'Dads not feeling well' Other - Patrick to her daughter: 'Delete this one but the anti-freeze is working' Advertisement

'He has lost two years of his life and is a changed man, physically, as well as mentally. He lost three stone in weight and his appearance changed dramatically.'

The judge then turned to Katherine - the 'timid' defendant who left school with no GCSEs and had dreams of becoming an actress.

'Katherine Patrick, your account to the probation officer includes attempts to minimise your offending behaviour,' he said.

'You did more than simply answer texts and not stopping your mother.'

He said her offending was aggravated in that it did not end with the first attempt to kill her father.

Patrick cradled her daughter in the dock, rocking her back and forth, as they waited for the judge to deliver the sentencing.

As their jail terms were read out, the younger woman collapsed in tears in the dock and had to be led away by her mother.

Earlier, Paul Morgan, defending Patrick, told the court she claims the anti-freeze was actually poured over her husband's Christmas pudding rather than being slipped into the cherry Lambrini.

'She explains rather than putting it in the drink, she actually poured it over the Christmas pudding and poured custard over it', he said.

'Whatever the degree of planning, it could hardly be supposed Mrs Patrick intended to administer anti-freeze in that particular way.

'It's a very odd way, on food, covered with other food.'

Judge Madge pointed out that the prosecution had opened the case on the basis that the anti-freeze was put in the Lambrini.

'It's a supposition', said Mr Morgan. 'If that's the way it was administered, it was more of a reaction to a fractious and unhappy family day rather than something carefully and skilfully thought out and sophisticated.'

Patrick (left) was jailed for 15 years for each of the attempted murder counts, to be served concurrently, while her daughter (right) was jailed for three years for the single charge of encouraging and assisting her mother

He said the couple's marriage had become increasingly unhappy and volatile, and there were claims that Mr Patrick had been violent and abusive.

'This might be considered a monstrous lapse in judgement but these offences were not committed by a monster', he said.

'It was a bewildering departure from a normal law-abiding life and was wholly out of character.

'One must try and explain why a woman never arrested, never charged, never before the courts decided to carry out such a serious act of criminality.

'She is a woman who was preoccupied almost exclusively with the family, and behaves in this way.

'It was an unhappy marriage that got worse towards the end.

'Evident by the upset of Christmas Day, at a time when chronic problems became acute, simmering long-running unhappiness boils over finally into most serious incident.

'It was an ill-thought out reaction to a growing misery and a miserable Christmas Day.

'It is no excuse of justification but some form of explanation.'

He said Patrick had worked at a laundrette and a dry cleaners in the past, and was a hairdresser prior to her marriage in 1988.

You put anti-freeze in a bottle of cherry Lambrini and you poured your husband a glass - he probably drank two-and-a-half glasses of it. There's no doubt you caused physical and psychological harm Judge Nic Madge

Mr Morgan said the family's Christmas Day was spoiled after Mr Patrick had a row with his other daughter Lucy, and then went upstairs to his study instead of sitting down for Christmas dinner.

He said it was 'astounding' that Patrick turned to a murder attempt instead of simply leaving her husband.

'It is a decided lack of imagination not to end the marriage', he said.

'She had a life largely circumscribed by family and the four walls of the family home, and she felt she had nowhere to go.

'To leave was unthinkable to her, and it is astonishingly limited thinking and inadequacy to go it alone as a separated woman outside the family home.'

He said Patrick could be accused of 'ineptitude and naivety' when looking at the fake note which was immediately ignored by the doctor and the fact police recovered the incriminating texts.

'The text 'I don't know how this stuff works' resonated that this was amateur rather than sophisticated planning', he said.

'The repercussions were undoubtedly serious but the fact it was unsuccessful could be put down to the incompetence and lack of understanding of Mrs Patrick.'

Mr Morgan also argued that this case should not be treated as among the most serious of attempted murders as the victim had made a good recovery.

'He was undoubtedly seriously and dangerously unwell after Christmas Day, but happily in his statement Mr Patrick described the impact on his health and in his own view of his updated medical position, he's in pretty good health', he said.

'Mrs Patrick is concerned about the current condition of Mr Patrick, and she is happy he's in pretty good health now.'

He added: 'We are talking about attempted murder and we do say it's not more than usually serious.'

Tests by staff at Kings College Hospital in south London (pictured) revealed that Mr Patrick, who worked as a London bus driver for nearly 50 years, had been poisoned - prompting Scotland Yard to launch the probe

In an impact statement read to the court earlier, Mr Patrick pleaded with the judge not to jail his wife and daughter but said the poisoning had 'broken me - I'm just a shell now'.

'Despite it all I'm still Jacqueline's husband and still Katherine's father. I almost pray for a suspended sentence or a tag.'

'I cry all the time, I can't hold myself together', he added.

Mr Morgan said Patrick had been volunteering for the charity Shelter while awaiting sentence, adding: 'She feels wretched about her actions and wretched about these proceedings.'

Julia Flanagan, representing Katherine, told the court: 'Katherine Patrick did not intend or desire the death of her father.

'She is sorry and regretful for the role she played, she wishes with all her heart she tried to stop what was happening', she said.

'She looks back with greater maturity and can't believe that she was involved in this.'

Ms Flanagan said the daughter was 'immature' and was 'absolutely devoted to her mother' who masterminded the poisoning plot.

'She is a sensitive and timid girl', she said.

'Her reaction to her father personally was more extreme, perhaps, than another child's reaction might have been, but to her he was an overbearing father.

'She was physically punished while growing up which she found difficult to deal with.'