Man let mum die in inhumane way - prosecutors

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A pensioner died a "painful and inhumane" death while under the supposed care of her son, a manslaughter trial has heard.

Paramedics found Veronica Irwin, 72, in a "perilous state" at her home in Carlisle after her son Stewart called 999 to say she had refused to get up off the bathroom floor for two weeks following a fall, the city's crown court heard.

Stewart Irwin, 56, denies manslaughter.

Opening the case to jurors, prosecutor Phillip Barnes KC said the defendant had claimed to be his mother's main carer but did not help her in the weeks before her death in July 2023.

The jury of 10 men and two women heard how when Irwin called 999 on 28 July 2023, he told the call handler his mother was "one of those stubborn women".

When paramedics arrived at the mother and son's flat, they found the 72-year-old on the bathroom floor, naked from the waist up in a "perilous state", Barnes said.

They initially feared she was already dead, the court heard, after finding ulcers around her head and neck and maggots on her skin.

She died later that evening in hospital, the court heard.

Barnes said Irwin was his mother's only source of help and she died in a "painful and inhumane way".

The prosecutor said Irwin told people he was his mother's "main carer" and had made an application for Universal Credit, telling his employment advisor he was caring for her for at least 35 hours a week.

But he must have been "stepping over" his mother for the two weeks she was laid on the bathroom floor, the court heard.

A post-mortem examination found she died from hypothermia and sepsis caused by pressure ulcers having spent a "considerable amount of time" laid on the floor, jurors heard.

During the period when she was believed to be on the floor, Irwin told his brother their mother was "OK", the court heard.

He also withdrew money from his mother's bank account and was regularly seen on CCTV at a local convenience store buying alcohol, the court heard.

"He continued to go about his life in a normal way while his mother was lying in a desperate state," Barnes said.

"At no time did he mention it or seek help.

"No reasonable carer would have stood idly by."

The prosecutor said Irwin had contact with many people who could have helped him and each delay in seeking aid had reduced the defendant's mother's chances of survival.

Had the 999 call happened 48 hours earlier, it would have been of considerable help, Barnes said.

"[He] left it far, far too late," the prosecutor said.

The trial continues.

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