Kaylea Titford: Teen who 'slept ate and died in filth' fed 'four to five takeaways a week'

A Powys father charged with the manslaughter of his daughter through gross negligence has been accused of “failing to care for her” as she lay in bed as “parts of her body were rotting alive”.

Kaylea Titford who had spina bifida and used a wheelchair to get around was found dead in October 2020 in a “filthy” room at the Newtown home she shared with her parents.

The prosecution claim she had been bedridden for around six months prior to her death - “unable to access anything outside the filthy confined space she was left in”, said Caroline Rees KC prosecuting.

Alun Titford has pleaded not guilty to manslaughter by gross negligence and the alternative count of causing or allowing the death of a child or vulnerable adult.

Kaylea Titford’s mother Sarah Lloyd Jones previously pleaded guilty to manslaughter by gross negligence and is awaiting sentencing.

Summing up the case for the prosecution Ms Rees told jurors at Mold Crown Court, “At the heart of this case is Kaylea Titford, barely 16 years old when she died. We know Kaylea was a vulnerable, disabled child with spina bifida.”

Through life she couldn’t walk and was reliant on her wheelchair for mobility and exercise.

Ms Rees added: “Despite those challenges you heard her described by teaching staff as happy, having a great sense of humour.  Described also as fiercely independent.”

She added “her personal dignity meant a lot to her”.

“She deserved and needed love and care and personal dignity and had a right to expect it ….because of her disability she didn’t have a choice. She had to rely on others to care for her.

“Top of the list who should have cared for her are Sarah Lloyd Jones her mother and Alan Titford, her father.

“We say they seriously and grossly failed in caring for their daughter.

“They say a picture paints a thousand words - how true has that been in this case. Kaylea slept, ate and died in filth”.

“Experienced police officers had seen nothing like it before, the smell making some of them feel physically sick. The culmination of weeks and months of neglect from Kaylea’s parents”.

The prosecution say Alun Titford has refused to face up to the full extent of his responsibilities for Kaylea’s death.

They add that Titford’s defence that he was “lazy, took little interest, couldn’t be bothered and wasn’t a good father” are not excuses for breaching his daughter’s care.  

It is claimed Kaylea put between two and three stone on in weight during the lockdown which began in March 2020.

She was fed takeaways four or five times a week. 

The prosecution claim it must have become a choice to neglect Kaylea. 

Giving evidence on Wednesday, removal man Alun Titford told the court that it was not true that Kaylea was confined to her bed during lockdown. He said she used her wheelchair and went into the kitchen and garden but Caroline Rees alleged that was false. 

“We say the defendant lied in the witness box yesterday. When he told you she was able to move from her bed - all 23 stone of her….he now tries to escape responsibility for what he said in [police] interview”.

Ms Rees told the jury that the way Kaylea lived must have been “an entirely wretched experience that you wouldn’t inflict on an animal let alone a vulnerable, disabled child”.

Titford, 45, looked down as the case for the prosecution was summed up. 

Tomorrow David Elias KC will sum up the argument for the defence.