The autistic daughter of an elderly couple who made a suicide pact after failing to cope with her condition spoke yesterday of her "heartbreak". Bill and Wendy Ainscow took a cocktail of drugs before walking into the sea off Tenerife last week. Mr Ainscow, aged 75, died, but his 64-year-old wife survived and is in a stable condition in hospital. The couple's 33-year-old daughter Lisa suffers from Asperger's syndrome and other mental problems, which cause her to make constant demands for money and rack up huge debts on shopping sprees. She said: "I am heartbroken. It is hard to come to terms with what has happened. I wish somebody would help. I just want someone to give me a chance in life." Last year Mr Ainscow, a former sub-postmaster, was jailed for stealing £50,000 in benefits books to fund his daughter's addiction. He was later freed by the Court of Appeal after it heard of the unusual family circumstances. Last week the couple, originally from Merseyside but living in Birmingham before going to Tenerife, wrote a suicide note to the Liverpool Daily Post. In it Mr Ainscow claimed the NHS failed to help them look after their daughter, who was "spend-ing money faster than I can earn it". They also asked if the newspaper could help their daughter, whose rent runs out in six months. The couple were pleased when their daughter was sectioned under the Mental Health Act in 2003, but devastated when she was discharged ten months later. Cheshire Wirral Partnership (CWP) NHS Trust came under fire yesterday after it was revealed that Lisa had not been referred to Birmingham social services when the family moved to the city. Patrick Colligan, local director of mental health charity Mind, said the Cheshire Wirral Part-nership (CWP) NHS Trust "had an awful lot to answer for". He added: "It's absolutely dis-graceful. People need to be brought to account. This should go to the Department of Health and be raised with the Secretary of State." A spokesman for the mental health charity the Zito Trust said: "There needs to be a full independent investigation. Local health services up there didn't follow up with any community care." Avril Haydock, director of nursing, therapies and patient partnerships at CWP NHS Trust, said members of the Ainscow family would be invited to discuss recent events. She said: "Health and social services will be working jointly to look into all aspects of the issues." Lisa's care was also partly the responsibility of Wirral social services. Council director of social services Kevin Miller said the department will review what actions have been taken and "see what lessons can be learned." A spokeswoman for Birmingham Social Care and Health said: "Mental health professionals in the city acted promptly and appropriately when Lisa was brought to their attention last Friday and Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health Trust has made an offer of support should she need it." | 
