Jury retires in trial of father accused of teenage daughter’s manslaughter

The jury in the trial of a father accused of the manslaughter of his obese teenage daughter has retired to consider its verdicts.

Kaylea Titford, 16, weighed 22 stone 13lbs, with a BMI of 70, when she was found dead at her home in Newtown, Powys, Wales in October 2020.

Her father Alun Titford, 45, denies her manslaughter by gross negligence and an alternative charge of causing or allowing the death of a child.

Her mother, Sarah Lloyd-Jones, 39, has already pleaded guilty to gross negligence manslaughter.

The jury of eight men and four women was sent out to consider its verdicts at Mold Crown Court at 1pm on Monday, after judge Mr Justice Griffiths summed up the evidence in the case.

The trial, which began two and a half weeks ago, has heard Kaylea was found lying on soiled bed linen in conditions which the prosecution described as “unfit for any animal”.

Titford, a removals worker, told the jury his partner was responsible for most of the care for Kaylea, who had spina bifida and used a wheelchair.

The court also heard the teenager was discharged from physiotherapy and dietetics services in the years before her death and was last seen by a social worker at home in 2017.

The jury was told Kaylea did not return to Newtown High School after lockdown in March 2020.