Trapped teenager Kaylea Titford was allowed to die in maggot-infested filth and lay every day in her own waste as her father was today found guilty of manslaughter by gross negligence.
The morbidly obese 16-year-old weighed 22st and 13 pounds at the time of her death in October 2020.
Her “lazy” father Alun Titford shared the blame with her mother for the death of their 'independent' disabled daughter who had been left to die in Newtown, Wales.
The removal man 45, was found guilty by a jury at Mold crown court after denying the charge.
However, his partner of more than 20 years Sarah Lloyd-Jones, aged 40, a community care worker, admitted manslaughter.
Although just 4ft 10, the teen weighed almost 23 stone and her body mass index was 70 - a normal BMI being 20 to 25.
The jury heard how Kaylea wasn’t seen in the last nine months of her life by a medical professional and hadn’t returned to school in September 2020.
She’d been left lying in squalor by her parents, with maggots and flies in her cluttered room.
Titford accepted in evidence that he was lazy and “failed’ his daughter as much as her mum.
The teen had spina bifida and depended on others to care for her welfare but she was fed takeaway food – Indian, Chinese and kebabs - four or five nights a week which would lead to weight gain.
The prosecution said the parents’ failures were hidden from the outside world because of the national Covid lockdown.
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.
The prosecution alleged that Kaylea had not used her wheelchair, which became too small for her, since the start of lockdown.
By the time of her death, Kaylea was immobile in her soiled bed. Her hair was dirty and matted and her toenails had not been cut for at least six months. Her skin was severely inflamed and ulcerated.
Prosecutor Caroline Rees KC said Kaylea couldn’t access her bathroom and toilet and lay in her own human waste. “It must have been an entirely wretched experience which you wouldn’t wish on any animal, let alone a vulnerable disabled child.”
She was “trapped” in her grim room, parts of her “rotting alive” as police noticed a foul smell.
A Home Office pathologist said the cause of death was as a result of inflammation and infection in extensive areas of ulceration arising from obesity and its complications, and immobility in a girl with spina bifida and hydrocephalus.
An expert described it as the most severe case of pressure ulceration she had ever seen.
Kaylea didn’t have a nominated “key worker”and a social worker at one stage agreed with her mother that there was no role for the child disabilities team.
She was last seen at home by a social worker in 2017 and discharged in 2018 from the NHS dietetic service.
The jury heard there had been a Facebook message from Kaylea the night before she died. Ten seconds later her mobile phone was “locked.”
Titford disputed that Kaylea had been stuck in bed during lockdown, but agreed he let her down. He claimed he couldn’t smell the awful decay and he hadn’t thought she needed medical attention.
Trial judge Mr Justice Martin Alexander Griffiths said after the jury’s verdict :”I will not pass sentence on the defendant today. I need more information before I can do that. I will pass sentence in Swansea crown court on March 1 against this defendant and Sarah Lloyd-Jones who has pleaded guilty.
”There can be no doubt this case passes the custody threshold. I do have a pre-sentence report on Sarah Lloyd-Jones, so I have full information about Alun Titford I will have a pre-sentence report on him too.
“That doesn’t mean anything other than a custodial sentence will be passed.”
He was granted conditional bail.
The judge told jurors who took seven hours to find him guilty the subject was “unusually distressing.” He granted a ten-year exemption from jury service and highlighted potential help for them if they felt upset.
Powys county council said yesterday, more than two years after the tragedy :”Following the conclusion of court proceedings, a concise child practice review is to be carried out and will involve all relevant agencies following a clear statutory framework.
"The local authority does not feel able to comment until this process has been completed.”
NSPCC Cymru Assistant Director Tracey Holdsworth said: “No child should be subjected to the horrific treatment Kaylea Titford was prior to her tragic death. The conscious, prolonged neglect by those who should have cared for her is incredibly distressing.
“Research shows that young people with disabilities are three times more at risk of abuse, and while Kaylea’s parents are to blame for her death this case shows why having effective safeguarding systems in place across our communities is crucial.
“A Child Safeguarding Practice Review must leave no stone unturned in establishing what more could have been done to protect Kaylea and, crucially, ensure that other children do not suffer such appalling neglect unnoticed.”
