A father has been found guilty of manslaughter by gross negligence of his teenage daughter who was morbidly obese when she died at the family home.
Kaylea Titford, 16, weighed 22-stone and 13 pounds, with a BMI of 70, at the time of her death in October 2020.
She was found living in conditions described as “unfit for any animal”, in soiled clothing and bed linen.
When asked during his evidence why he had let his daughter down so badly, Alun Titford said: “I’m lazy.”
The removals worker, 45, denied the charges of gross negligence, but today he was found guilty. He was also found guilty of causing or allowing the death of a child.
His partner Sarah Lloyd-Jones, 39, had already pleaded guilty to manslaughter by gross negligence.
Kaylea, who had spina bifida and used a wheelchair, died after suffering inflammation and infection from ulceration, arising from obesity and immobility, Mold Crown Court heard.
Emergency service workers, who were called to the house in Powys, Wales after she was found on October 10, described feeling sick due to a “rotting” smell in her room.
Following her death maggots were found which were thought to have been feeding on her body, the jury was told.
The court heard that her bedsheets were soiled and she was lying on a number of puppy toilet training pads.
Her room was said to be dirty and cluttered, with bottles of urine and a chip fryer with drips of fat down the side, as well as a full cake in a box.
The court heard that Kaylea had attended Newtown High School, where she was described as “funny and chatty” by staff, but did not return following the coronavirus lockdown in March 2020.
Titford, who had six children with Lloyd-Jones, said the family would order takeaways four or five nights a week.
It is thought Kaylea had put on two or three stone since March.
The prosecution alleged that Kaylea had not used her wheelchair, which became too small for her, since the start of lockdown.
Caroline Rees KC, prosecuting, asked Titford: “She hadn’t been out of bed, had she?”
Titford claimed he saw her in the kitchen in her wheelchair during that period, but later told the police he hadn't seen her out of bed.
The court heard that Kaylea had been discharged from physiotherapy and dietetics services in the years before her death and had last been seen by a social worker at home in 2017.
Titford claimed Lloyd-Jones, who was a community care worker, was responsible for looking after Kaylea.
He said he used to take her to medical appointments and care for her but stepped back when she reached puberty as he was not “comfortable”.
In cross-examination, he accepted he was as much to blame for Kaylea’s death as her mother.
Judge Mr Justice Griffiths said: “There can be no doubt this case passes the custody threshold.”
The judge told jurors he would give them a 10-year exemption from jury service, saying there had been a “lot of difficult and a lot of expert evidence”.
He added: “The subject matter was, no doubt, unusually distressing.”
Detective Chief Inspector Jonathon Rees said: "The circumstances of Kaylea’s death were tragic, and her parents will have to live with the part they played in that for the rest of their lives.
"This investigation has been extensive, and at times harrowing given Kaylea’s age and the conditions she was living in, yet our officers and partners have worked diligently and professionally throughout.
"I would like to thank them for their efforts, and for getting justice for Kaylea.
"I would also like to thank those who knew Kaylea and members of the community in which she lived for their patience throughout this sensitive investigation."
Titford and Lloyd-Jones will be sentenced on March 1 at Swansea Crown Court.
