A mother who allegedly gave fatal doses of morphine to her son was so overwhelmed by his request to try it during a drinking session she could not refuse him, a court heard.

Marianne Willoughby, 50, gave evidence to the jury about the events on June 23, 2013, which resulted in the death of her 25-year-old son, Christopher Rowley-Goodchild.

She is charged with manslaughter by an unlawful act and denies directly squirting 40mg of her prescribed oramorph (liquid morphine) into his mouth before he collapsed and died.

His friend, Kirk Ugle, now 25, said Mr Rowley-Goodchild was not one to take drugs. But Miss Willoughby said in an interview with the police her son had previously mentioned he smoked cannabis while attending Brooklands College.

She also said: “He had told me that on one day he had taken my morphine while I was out at the hospital once. I asked him why and he said ‘it made me feel warm, it made me feel a bit happy’.” Miss Willoughby said she told him not to take it again.

On the night in question, mother, son and Mr Ugle were at the family home in Thames Street, Weybridge. They had all been drinking and were in Christopher’s bedroom when the topic of oramorph, prescribed to her after a knee operation, was brought up.

Miss Willoughby told the jury her son said: “’Show Kirk your war wounds, she’s got war wounds’ and I just pulled my pyjama leg up a little bit and you could see a small amount of the scar.

“He said I hope you’ve got decent meds for that and I said well yes they gave me pain relief.”

She had received two full 300ml bottles of oramorph two days previously and said she was “still shocked” Mr Rowley-Goodchild then asked to try some.

Although she said she was “in a bit of unknown territory” and “said no a few times” Miss Willoughby said she went to her bedroom and returned with a half full 300ml bottle and a syringe.

The defendant said she “wasn’t happy about that at all” and did not understand why they wanted to try it, but found it difficult to deny her son anything.

The syringe would not reach the liquid so she tipped a quantity into the lid and used the syringe to pull that up in a 10ml measurement to give them the same dose she took, the court heard.

She told the court her son reached over, took the full syringe from her, leaned back and squirted it into his mouth. Mr Ugle reportedly did the same and both men drank the remaining liquid in the lid. She said they repeated this one more time.

This goes against what Mr Ugle alleges. He said for some of the doses, he thought four or five, which were taken from a full bottle, Miss Willoughby squirted it into their mouths.

When questioned by John O'Higgins, prosecuting, she said she did not read the instructions which said not to mix with alcohol but agreed it was common sense not to give prescribed medication to someone else.

She also denied telling a paramedic who attended the house after a 999 call, she gave it to them “for a laugh”.

Graham Trembath QC, defending, asked Miss Willoughby to describe her relationship with her son.

She said it was: “Amazing. Perfect. I loved him, he loved me. No matter where we were in the country if I’d gone away to Yorkshire to stay with a friend or Essex to be with family we spoke several times a day.”

Miss Willoughby admits she provided the oramorph but was adamant she did not administer it directly to her son. The court heard when she was questioned by police she repeatedly said “no comment” when asked about who took it and how.

Mr O’Higgins, speaking at Guildford Crown Court on Wednesday, February 18, asserted she did squirt the liquid into Mr Rowley-Goodchild’s mouth.

He said: “There’s no one in this room, Miss Willoughby, who doesn’t think this is a terrible tragedy for Christopher and also for you,” but argued her evidence and statements are conflicting.

The trial continues.