An elderly Birmingham couple who flew to Tenerife to kill themselves wrote a despairing letter saying they had lost all hope of being able to care for their daughter who suffers from a form of autism. The suicide note written by Bill and Wendy Ainscow blamed doctors for being "unwilling to admit" the seriousness of 33-year-old Lisa's condition. The couple swallowed a cocktail of anti-depressants and other drugs before walking out into the sea together last week. Mr Ainscow, aged 75, died, while Mrs Ainscow survived and was last night receiving treatment in the psychiatric ward of a hospital on the holiday island. Their daughter suffers from Asperger's syndrome and a number of other problems, which lead her to demand money and rack up huge debts on shopping sprees. Hours before entering into their suicide pact on the evening of November 2, her parents wrote a letter explaining why they had no choice but to end their lives. They explained: "There is still no attempt to provide any form of help, therefore we have chosen the only way out is to end our lives." The letter finished: "All our friends have deserted us as they cannot cope with Lisa. "Lisa is spending money faster than I can earn it, so we are now penniless." Mr Ainscow, a former post office submaster, was jailed for 15 months in January 2003 for stealing £50,000 worth of benefit books to pay off his daughter's spending bills. Three months later he was freed after the Court of Appeal heard he had only committed the crime to cover his daughter's debts. In June 2003, Miss Ainscow was sectioned and detained under the Mental Health Act. She was discharged after nearly ten months in a move condemned by her mother, who said she felt the family had been "abandoned by the NHS". In their suicide note the couple again stressed how cut off they felt from health authorities. Mrs Ainscow wrote: "We were in the process of making a formal complaint against the NHS but this made little progress and now we will have to abandon it. "I don't know what will become of Lisa but I am unable to cope with her any more. "She is much worse mentally than the doctors are willing to admit and there is no way she will be able to look after herself." Before moving to Birmingham with her parents, Miss Ainscow was cared for by Cheshire and Wirral Partnership NHS Trust. Last night Avril Haydock, the Trust's director of nursing, therapies and patient partnership, said: "The Trust will look into all aspects of the issues raised." Kevin Miller, director of Wirral's social services said: "We will of course review in detail, with our colleagues in health, what actions have been taken, and see what lessons can be learned. " Miss Ainscow's solicitor Richard Nicholas said his client was in no way responsible for her father's death. He said: "Given the reports released by the press in the recent past concerning Lisa Ainscow, I feel that it is necessary to correct the misleading impression that has been given. "Not only does Lisa now have to cope with the tragic loss of at least one of her parents, but she is also faced with the potential backlash which may result from the adverse publicity and reports which have virtually placed responsibility for her parent's death upon her. "Lisa is an extremely vulnerable individual and such reports place her at great risk. "I hope Wirral and Birmingham social services can now come together to care for Lisa." | 
