by Jurors have been shown photos of the “disgusting” bedroom where an obese teenager was found dead.
Kaylea Titford, 16, weighed 22 and 13 pounds, with a body mass index of 70, when she died in October 2020 at her home in Powys, Wales, where she was found lying in dirty clothes and bedding.
His father, Alun Titford, 45, denies manslaughter for gross negligence and is on trial at Mold Crown Court.
On Friday, jury were shown photographs and body images of Kaylea’s living conditions, described by the prosecution as “misery and degradation.”
The images, which the defense acknowledged were “disgusting” and “appalling”, reveal how the disabled teenager, who had spina bifida and was confined to a wheelchair, was forced to bed in dirty clothes and bedding.
The court was previously told police described an “unbearable” rotten smell and maggots and flies on his body.
Images released Friday showed larvae and pupae in the teen’s bedding and fly debris on a hoist used to lift her.
The bedroom was also seen to be littered with clutter and debris, including kitchen equipment and piles of clothing.
The conditions were previously described by prosecutor Caroline Rees as “not suitable for any animal”.
Kaylea, who was completely dependent on others for her care, was found lying on dirty “puppy pads” and had not been washed for weeks, jury was told.
He had dirty, matted hair and ulcerated skin, including pressure sores on his legs.
In defense of Alun Titford, David Elias KC told the jury to “divorce” the “graphic nature” of the images.
“The horror at the end of the case is not necessarily the benchmark of guilt or innocence.
“It’s disgusting, it’s horrible, there’s no arguing about it, but you have to see how it got to that point.”
Kaylea and her family were “let down” by health and social services, Elias said in his closing remarks.
“Not every family that is defrauded ends up in the situation that we have seen, thank goodness, but it is important evidence, we present, in the context of this defendant’s behavior.”
Kaylea was released from physiotherapy in 2017 and a year later she was discharged from a dietetics service because her mother, Sarah Lloyd-Jones, was unable to make a new appointment.
Read more:
Father accused of allowing obese daughter to die admits he ‘could have done more’
Emergency crews ‘felt physically ill’ seeing the ‘shocking’ conditions where a 22-stone teenager died
In April 2017, a social worker agreed with Ms Lloyd-Jones that there was no role for the children with disabilities team, the court heard.
Ms Lloyd-Jones, who has six children with Titford, pleaded guilty to manslaughter for gross negligence, the jury was told.
She was responsible for most of Kaylea’s care as she hit puberty, with Titford stepping back because he wasn’t “comfortable”.
Titford, a mover, was working up to 50 hour weeks and 15 days straight before Kaylea died.
Elias said: “Here’s a defendant who was working the whole time, who we rightly say because she had a right, for all that she had done so well, she really believed until the day it was found out that Kaylea was doing Sarah Lloyd- Jones”. the right thing, he was giving the right treatment, and I didn’t know he wasn’t doing it.”
He said it was “reasonable” for Titford to believe his partner was caring for Kaylea and dealing with the danger of pressure sores on her legs.
“It was Sarah who was dealing with it, and that’s not passing the buck, that’s what was happening.”
Titford, of Colwyn, Newtown in Powys, also denies an alternative charge of causing or permitting the death of a child.
The trial has been adjourned until Monday, when Judge Martin Griffiths adjourns the case and the jury is expected to begin deliberations.
