An elderly woman allegedly neglected by her daughter and sole caregiver was found fused to a couch with maggots crawling in her rotting wounds, a court has heard.
The 82-year-old woman was discovered in November 2011 by a local doctor and paramedics in a dark and smelly room. Her body had grown into the couch and the blanket that was covering her wounds. She had also suffered from heart disease and diabetes.
The woman's 51-year-old daughter, who has been granted name suppression, pleaded not guilty to the charge of failing to provide the necessities of life in the Napier District Court today.
Crown prosecutor Steve Manning told the judge-only trial the elderly woman "required care" and was "owed the necessities of life", reports The New Zealand Herald. The mother died about six weeks after being taken to hospital.
Mr Manning said the daughter had "endangered the life of her mother".
"A blue stain was on her face, which appeared to have come from the fabric on the couch."
Bound to the couch, the woman's leg became severely ulcerated and swollen, covered in rotten skin, maggots and dried excrement. The maggots were "imbedded" in the blanket covering her, he said.
The daughter's lawyer, Matt Dixon, argued there was no evidence the woman was dehydrated or malnourished.
3 News
source: newshub archive
