I CAN'T CLEAN AROUND MY MUM'S BODY.
CALLOUS daughter Benita Pearce had problems vacuuming the carpet - her mother's unconscious body was in the way, a court heard yesterday.Pearce, 23, had left her 62-year-old mother, Isabella, lying on the floor for nearly a week, while she kept on going to work, it was alleged.
The alert was only raised when Pearce went to speak about her mother's health with their doctor, Stephen Mather.
She told him then that she had difficulty cleaning round her mother, the court heard.
Mrs Pearce was taken to hospital but died without gaining consciousness two days later.
Yesterday, at Truro Crown Court, Cornwall, supermarket cashier Pearce, of St Austell, Cornwall, denied the manslaughter of her mother.
Roderick Denyer, QC, prosecuting, said the case was about gross neglect.
Mrs Pearce died from acute blood poisoning, which was related to a perforated bowel.
Mr Denyer said: "The condition developed over a period of time as she lay there not being looked after and no help being summoned."
The only way to describe Pearce's "complete inactivity" over several days was gross negligence, he went on.
Dr Mather said that after Pearce saw him, he went to the home and found the "gravely ill" mother propped up against a doorway.
He said Pearce told him she had not realised her mother was that ill.
Dr Christine Rotheray, a house officer at Treliske hospital, Cornwall, said Pearce told her that her mother had collapsed the week before, and she had given her drinks before going to work, and in the evening.
The trial continues.
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| Author: | Frew, Callum |
|---|---|
| Publication: | Daily Record (Glasgow, Scotland) |
| Date: | Feb 24, 1999 |
| Words: | 257 |
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