An extreme hoarder has been jailed for allowing his sister to die in ‘horrific’ conditions after she made him promise not to admit her to hospital.
Julie Burdett, 61, was found covered in her own faeces, urine and vomit and weighing just 4st 10lb when paramedics finally got to her.
Rotting pressure sores on her body were riddled with infection and she had been lying on the floor for a full fortnight at the end of her life.
Philip Burdett, 59, was ‘utterly out of his depth’ when he was tasked with caring for his sister, who suffered numerous complex health issues.
He and his 93-year-old father, Ralph, became increasingly reclusive and developed an aversion to hospitals after the death of Grace Burdett in 2005, Philip’s mother.
A judge accepted they had convinced themselves ‘it was in Julie’s best interests to remain at home and you buried your heads in the sand’.
Mr Justice Pepperall said: ‘I am satisfied that you became overwhelmed by the seriousness of Julie’s ill-health and that instead of discharging your duties to her you irrationally but genuinely clung on to the unrealistic hope that she would somehow pull through.
‘You plainly intended her no harm but you were in denial.’
He added this was ‘not a case of callous disregard’ and there was ‘abundant evidence’ both defendants loved Ms Burdett very much.
Ralph Burdett avoided a manslaughter conviction but was found guilty of allowing her death, walking free from court with a two-year suspended sentence.
But jailing the younger defendant for three years, he scolded him for not seeking medical attention even as she began to slip in and out of consciousness.
The jury heard there was a window of days when Grace’s life could have been saved as she lay dying at their Leicester home.
Setencing, the judge said: ‘The failings of care in this case were not only, on the findings of the jury, gross but they were also basic.
‘Julie plainly needed medical attention, or at the very least to be lifted from the floor and placed back on to her bed.
‘She needed proper nutrition. She needed proper management of her pain relief … I do not underestimate the heavy burden of caring for an immobile adult in the home.
‘There is no shame in needing help but what was grossly negligent in this case was failing to either provide such basic care or seek the help that you needed.’
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