Parents jailed after letting 'skeletal' five-stone daughter die

A couple have been jailed for eight years each after they left their daughter to die in an emaciated state.

Steffie Davies, 32, was found dead by paramedics who were called to her home in Wrexham, north Wales, in May 2023, Mold Crown Court was told.

Alan and Bernita Davies, both 60, admitted causing or allowing the death of their daughter, who had anxiety and rarely left the house.

Steffie, who weighed five stone nine pounds (36kg) and was 5ft 7in (170cm) tall, was "almost skeletal" with pressure sores and joint contractures which would have prevented her from eating or drinking without assistance, the court heard.

Warning: Some may find details in this story distressing

Andrew Jones KC, prosecuting, said Steffie had dirty matted hair, possibly containing lice eggs, suspected fungal infections and the bed she was found in was "sodden".

In a statement, her sister said she had shown potential at college, where she studied animal care, but her anxiety grew as she became older and she found it hard to leave the house.

Bernita Davies was described as the "mother from hell" by a neighbour because of the way she shouted at her three children when they were young.

Her older sibling, unnamed in court and estranged from their parents, said: "With the right support and encouragement from my mum and dad, she could have done so much with her life.

"Instead she was left to fade into insignificance in the most inhumane way possible. No sentence could ever be able to atone for that."

The court heard a 999 call made by Bernita Davies to report her daughter's death at about 08:30 BST on 26 May 2023.

She could be heard crying in the call, in which she told an operator her daughter was "cold" and "like a skeleton".

Jones said the defendant told officers she attended to her daughter at 21:00 on 24 May when she was reading in bed, and checked her a number of times the following day when she appeared asleep, before finding her dead on 26 May.

He added: "In all probability, she had been dead long before that."

The court heard it was not possible to establish when Steffie died but, according to an expert, ulcers on her body had been there for at least six weeks.

Steffie died from sepsis due to infected pressure ulcers, very low body weight and poor nutritional status, a pathologist found.

Her ground-floor bedroom was in an "appalling" state, in contrast to the clean condition of the rest of the home in Pandy, Wrexham county, Jones said.

Steffie's parents, who gave no comment in police interviews, were initially charged with gross negligence manslaughter.

Guilty pleas of causing or allowing their daughter's death were accepted earlier this year.

In sentencing the couple, the judge Mrs Justice Stacey said that Bernita and Alan Davies had "not loved or cared for " their daughter and were both criminally responsible for her death.

She said she hoped their other daughter would be able to remember the "happy times", dancing to Abba together, her sister's success at college and the happiness she brought her sister when she lived at home.

"You were both well able to visit the doctor and get help for your own problems," the judge said, but never sought help for Steffie as "she became more and more withdrawn and her horizons narrowed".

"Your daughter said you let her fade away…it was so much worse than that" she said.

She said: "There is no evidence of her ever having been shown love and affection.

"Instead, she was verbally abused by you and you showed complete indifference to her suffering."

The last time Steffie was seen outside the house, in 2017, her mother was seen shouting at her and calling her "stupid", the court heard.

Alan Davies, a factory worker, told paramedics his daughter had not been out of bed for 12 months before she died and her younger brother said in December 2022 Steffie was bed-bound and too weak to open a box of chocolates he had given her for Christmas.

The judge said Steffie did not have underlying health problems before her death, adding: "It was you, her parents, you were the problem."

Maria Masselis, defending Bernita Davies, said: "The defendant's plea is a public acknowledgement that she failed her daughter in terms of providing adequate care. That's a responsibility that will stay with her for the rest of her life."

The court heard the couple had been together for 34 years and had three children, as well as an 18-month-old grandchild they were in contact with.

Simon Rogers, defending Alan Davies, said: "This is not a case where the defendant felt any malevolence towards Steffie, there is no ill feeling towards her, he never wished her harm, yet he must accept that through his inaction that led to her death."

Bernita Davies, a former supermarket supervisor and Alan Davies, a former factory worker, both had no previous convictions.

They were sentenced to eight years each in prison and will serve three quarters of that before being released on licence.

Mrs Justice Stacey added she did not accept there was "evidence of genuine remorse…rather of victim blaming".

Alan Davies looked down throughout the remarks but both stared straight ahead and showed no emotion as the sentences were handed down.

Senior investigating officer Det Supt Sarah-Jayne Williams said it is difficult to comprehend that a "once fit and healthy woman had been able to deteriorate to the point of death with no intervention from her mother and father"

A spokesman for Wrexham council said Steffie was not known to social services, however the council are liaising with North Wales Safeguarding Board to consider if the case meets the threshold for a review.