19 January 2023 , 16:07
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A horrified paramedic reported two parents to social services after finding their 23-stone teenage daughter dead in bed, a court heard.
Schoolgirl Kaylea Titford, 16, was allegedly neglected by her parents and lived in a filthy room in the last days of her young life.
Paramedic Gareth Wyn Evans attended the family home after being told spina bifida sufferer Kaylea was found not breathing.
But when he pulled back her covers to check her signs of life he said: "I was hit with a smell that I cannot describe".
Mr Wyn Evans said: "It was horrific and like someone had died."
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He told the court he believed the smell coming from her legs was "gangrene" or "something putrid".
Father Alun Titford, 45, is accused of gross negligence manslaughter and causing or allowing the death of a child after Kaylea was found dead in bed.
Kaylea's mum, Sarah Lloyd-Jones, 39, has pleaded guilty to the same charges.
Schoolgirl Kaylea Titford was allegedly neglected by her parents (WALES NEWS SERVICE)Mr Wyn Evans told Mold Crown Court Kaylea's room was "cluttered, dirty and untidy" and had clothes piled up on her wheelchair and dirty crockery around the room.
He said when removing electrodes from Kaylea's ankles to check for an electric impulse the smell of her body made him wretch and he had to seek fresh air.
He told the court that later that day he made a safeguarding referral to social services.
A court heard Kaylea was "fiercely independent" before lockdown - and even took part in high school PE lessons in her wheelchair.
But her parents allegedly allowed her weight to soar and her health to deteriorate as they left her alone in her adapted room and failed to keep her clean.
Kaylea allegedly not seen a doctor in the nine months before she died despite a series of health problems and had not been washed for weeks.
Alun Titford arrives at Mold Crown Court in Flintshire (PA)Prosecutor Caroline Rees KC said that at the time of her death in October 2020 Kaylea was "living in conditions not fit for animals" and forced to use "puppy pads" to go to the toilet on her urine-soaked floor.
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Ms said: "She lived and died in squalor and degradation.
"Their serious failures were hidden from the scrutiny of the outside world from March 2020 by reason of the national lockdown during the global Covid pandemic.
"We further say that the parents' negligence was so gross as to be properly characterised as criminal."
The jury was told Kaylea's parents failed in their "duty of care" to get her exercise and give her a healthy diet - as well as failing to keep her clean and "medically safe."
The prosecutor said Kaylea was 'living in conditions not fit for animals' (WALES NEWS SERVICE)
Kaylea died from health problems linked to her obesity (WALES NEWS SERVICE)Ms Rees said that at the time of her death Kaylea weighed 146KG (22.9stone) and was "morbidly obese" with a BMI of 70.
She said: "Alun Titford failed to ensure Kaylea’s dietary needs were met leading to morbid obesity."
Ms Rees said Titford further accused of failing to ensure she got enough exercise, was in a hygienic conduction and had a safe and clean living environment.
She said Kaylea had not had her nails cut for six months prior to her death and that "well grown" maggots were found in her body around her buttocks and legs.
Ms Rees said: "These maggots were there in life and death.
"Her living conditions were not only foul but her physical condition was awful too."
The jury was told there were more than 100 flies on fly paper in Kaylea's room and there were traces of fly excrement on her chair hoist.
Her hair was also matted and Kaylea - who needed help with everyday tasks - had not been washed for "several weeks".
Ms Rees said: "It must be clear that it was a serious breach of duty to her that they allowed her to fall into such a physical state."
Kaylea was found dead in bed by mum Lloyd-Jones, on October 10, 2020, at her home in Newtown, Powys.
Ms Rees said Titford claimed to be "shocked" by his daughter's death and that Kaylea was Lloyd-Jones' responsibility.
She said: "The duty of care was on both of them and the prosecution says that he must have, or should have known, of the environment in which she slept and ate and the physically degrading condition she was in.
"He lived in that house so he must have known, and he did nothing about it, say the prosecution, and then he cannot wash his hands of it."
Titford, of Newtown, Powys, denies manslaughter and causing or allowing the death of a child.
The trial, listed for up to four weeks, in front of Mr Justice Griffiths, continues.