A man who twice tried to kill his gravely ill friend as an act of mercy has been jailed for 20 months by a high court judge.

Mrs Justice Thirlwall accepted that Wayne Norman had found it difficult to see Michael Bryan, 61, suffering during the final days of his life.

Nottingham crown court was told Norman could not go through with an initial attempt to smother his friend of more than 35 years with a cushion after he saw him waving his arms. The 57-year-old from Rugby, Warwickshire, also aborted a second attempt to suffocate Bryan using insulating tape.

The crown and the defence accepted that Norman's actions had not harmed Bryan, who died days later of liver failure caused by hepatitis.

Norman, who pleaded guilty to attempted murder at a hearing at Warwick crown court in January, was told he must serve half of the 20-month sentence in custody.

The judge told Norman: "I accept that you genuinely believed that to kill a friend was an act of mercy, and I accept that he had asked you on a previous occasion to do so. Certainly I accept that you found it difficult to see him suffering in the way that he was."

But she added: "What you did was wrong. As you knew, it was against the law. Having reflected upon the whole of the circumstances in the case, in my judgment I must send you to prison immediately."