Jury hears 999 call made during bid to save mother

THE JURY in the Jenny Methven murder trial yesterday heard the 999 call made by her son moments after he discovered her body at their Perthshire home in February.

David Methven (58) was heard telling the ambulance service to “get here as quick as possible” during the recording, which was played at the trial of William Kean (46), the man accused of murdering Mrs Methven.

The court heard how Mr Methven returned home at 5.10pm to find his mother slumped on a chair in the kitchen with a towel over her head.

In the recording, which lasted several minutes, Mr Methven gave his address before telling the operator he had found his mother unconscious on the floor.

Mr Methven was asked by the operator to put his ear next to his mother’s mouth to see if he could feel or hear her breathing.

He replied: “No, can you get here as quick as possible?”

The court then heard Mr Methven’s desperate attempts to resuscitate his mother.

The operator gave instructions over the phone b e fo re Mr Methven counted out a series of chest compressions as he attempted CPR on his mother.

Once he stopped counting, he could be heard attempting to resuscitate his 80-year-old mother for several minutes.

E v e n t u a l l y, Mr Methven said he was getting tired and said: “This is really bad, I think she is dead. She is even getting stiff.”

The operator said he had performed 360 compressions and asked Mr Methven if he wanted to stop performing CPR.

He said: “I want the ambulance to get here.”

After further attempts at resucitation, the call ended while Mr Methven waited for the ambulance to arrive.

Alex Prentice asked if Mr Methven had placed a sheet over his mother to give her some dignity.

Mr Methven said yes but could not remember if he did it before or after the ambulance arrived.

He said: “I got a sheet from the airing cupboard and put it over my mum.”

Mr Prentice said: “To give her some dignity?”

Mr Methven said:“Yes, it seemed the right thing to do at the time.”

Later, Mr Methven admitted that if he had reported the alleged theft of £15,000 from the home he shared with his mother in September then his mother may still be alive today.

He said: “It’s something I have to live with. If I had reported it, the robber might have been caught and my mother might be alive. I’ve got to live with that.”