Father tells court he could have done more for obese daughter

The father of an obese teenager who was found dead at her home has told a court he could have done more to help her.

Kaylea Titford, 16, weighed 22 stone and 13 lbs, with a body mass index of 70, when she died in October 2020 at her home in Newtown, Powys, Wales, where she was found lying in soiled clothing and bed linen.

Giving evidence on Wednesday her father Alun Titford, who denies manslaughter, was asked by David Elias KC, defending, if he could have done more to help Kaylea.

He replied: “Yeah. I could just have done more.”

Titford, 45, was asked whether he was the best father he could have been to any of his six children and he replied: “No. I’m just not very good.”

The removals worker said Kaylea was a “lovely” child.

He told the court he would take his daughter, who had spina bifida and used a wheelchair, to medical appointments and help with her care but as she got older he became less involved.

He said: “I stepped back. I didn’t do as much for her.

“She was getting older and I just didn’t feel comfortable.”

He said Kaylea was looked after by her mother, Sarah Lloyd-Jones, who has pleaded guilty to gross negligence manslaughter.

“I presumed everything was being done,” he said.

Titford said Kaylea’s weight became harder to manage as she got older and court heard the dietitian service dealing with Kaylea discharged her and social workers stopped visiting.

He said “most days” Kaylea would scream if her siblings or parents went into her room and she did not want them there.

The court heard that the night before her death he messaged his daughter just after 10.30pm and said: “If you have a bad chest stop screaming.”

He told the court Kaylea had a cold and he thought one of her siblings was in her room when she did not want them there.

He said he could not hear what was being said but could hear Kaylea screaming.

The next morning, he said, he was woken by Lloyd-Jones who was crying and told him Kaylea was dead so he went to check her.

“Upset”

He said: “I just touched her and I could tell.”

Titford said his mother was contacted and she phoned emergency services.

When paramedics arrived Titford was sitting on the stairs, the jury was told, and did not go back to Kaylea’s room.

He said: “I couldn’t. I was too upset.”

Asked why Kaylea’s bedroom was so cluttered, Titford said: “We just didn’t throw nothing away.”

Titford said Lloyd-Jones, who worked as a carer, had not discussed any problems or difficulties with Kaylea’s hygiene.

The court heard on February 23 2020 Lloyd-Jones messaged Titford saying: “I’ve had enough of everything, my life, the lot.”

He replied: “OK. I’ll take the day off then, shall I?”

He said “now and again” there would be arguments about what was being done by others in the family and they would “talk it through”.

Titford, of Colwyn, Newtown, denies manslaughter by gross negligence and an alternative count of causing or allowing the death of a child.