Man who let mum die on bathroom floor jailed

A man who failed to help his 74-year-old mother as she lay for two weeks slowly dying on their bathroom floor has been sentenced to six-and-a-half years in prison.

Stewart Irwin, from Carlisle, finally dialled 999 in the early afternoon of 28 July 2023, and told the call handler his mother's skin had "started to turn blue".

Carlisle Crown Court heard paramedics who attended the two-bed Rydal Street flat found the pensioner unconscious, semi-naked and malnourished.

Mr Justice Bright said Irwin "made a conscious decision" to leave his mother without help and "must have realised that she was approaching death".

Warning: This story contains descriptions of injuries some readers may find distressing.

"Initially, paramedics thought Veronica Irwin had already died," prosecutor Phil Barnes KC told Carlisle Crown Court.

Even from outside the front door, medics detected the strong and distinct smell of a decomposing human body.

The court heard she was dangerously cold and some wounds extended, in places, through the full thickness of her skin.

Mrs Irwin, who was 4ft 10in tall and weighed just over seven stones, was transported to hospital but died later that evening from hypothermia and neglected pressure ulcers which covered more than a third of her body surface.

"No attention appeared to have been given to her basic hygiene needs," said Barnes.

Irwin described himself as his mother's carer for at least 35 hours a week, had told numerous agencies that was the case and given up work to perform the role, the court heard.

During the period of time in which she lay on the bathroom floor, Irwin was "going about his daily life" and withdrew money from his mother's bank account.

Irwin made nine separate visits to a nearby shop to buy bottles of cider.

The last time he visited the One Stop store on Fusehill Street was on 27 July - the day before he dialled 999.

Irwin denied gross negligence manslaughter but was convicted, unanimously, by a jury who heard harrowing evidence of his mother's injuries and saw graphic photographs which captured the squalid condition of their home.

Irwin gave no evidence during his trial, jurors heard he had previously told a clinical psychologist he had "tried to help" his mother who, he claimed, had "repeatedly refused" assistance.

Defence barrister Andrew Ford KC suggested Irwin was accustomed to complying with his mother's wishes over many years, and was a man of lower than average intellectual functioning.

"The (999) call was too late by a long way," said Ford. "It must have been a difficult thing to do."

"He has always said to anyone prepared to listen… that he tried to move her and couldn't. She wasn't for being moved. She wanted to stay where she was.

"He is a man who is distressed about all this," Ford added.

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