Kaylea Titford was a vulnerable 16-year-old girl who, because of her acute physical and mental health problems, was wholly dependent on her parents.
But instead of caring for their daughter, Alan Titford and Sarah Lloyd Jones subjected Kaylea to the most horrendous neglect that culminated in a prolonged and painful death, just weeks after her 16th birthday.
“No animal should be subjected to treatment such as that,” said Mr Justice Griffiths when passing sentence this afternoon.
When police officers attended the family home in Newtown, Powys, in October 2020, they discovered the body of Kaylea lying in her own dried faeces on her bed, surrounded by flies and maggots. Her flesh was covered in ulcers which had penetrated through her fat to the bone. Milk bottles containing her urine had been left standing around her bed.
The site and stench which greeted the officers caused them ‘to retch and feel physically sick’, continued Mr Justice Griffiths.
“The lack of care which had been shown to her was the worst that the officers had ever experienced.”
Kaylea’s body weight amounted to 22 and 13 pounds stone. She was found in her specially adapted bedroom, designed to cater for her physical needs as a result of her spina bifida and hydrocephalus which is a build-up of fluid on the brain.
Her weight, claimed the Crown, was largely the result of the take-away foods which she had been fed continuously by her parents. Over £1,000 had been spent by the couple on takeaway foods in the three months leading up to her death.,
“She could only eat what she was given, which was the same fattening takeaways that everyone else was eating,” commented Judge Griffiths.
Hours before her death, Kaylea was heard screaming out in agony.
“Her father heard her screaming but his reaction was to tell her to stop, twice. This was a completely dependent, bedridden, vulnerable child who was left to die alone.”
Mr Justice Griffiths went on to say that Alan Titford and Sarah Lloyd Jones refused to ask for help in dealing with their daughter’s needs.
“They should have reached out for any help that was available. The help was there for the taking and it was there for the asking. But both parents completely neglected to get her the help that was so greatly needed.”
Both parents were charged with gross negligence manslaughter. Alan Titford, 45, denied the charge but was convicted by Mold Crown Court in January. Sarah Lloyd Jones, 40 pleaded guilty.
Alan Titford was sentenced to seven years and six months in custody. He will serve five years in prison before being released on licence.
Sarah Lloyd Jones was sentenced to six years in prison. She will remain in custody for four years and will serve the remaining sentence on licence.
