Kaylea Titford: Inside the 'rancid' home where obese teen died from neglect
Kaylea Titford‘s body was discovered inside her bedroom in Newtown, Powys. Wales, in conditions described as ‘unfit for any animal’.
Warning: Contains distressing images
These shocking photos show the “rancid” conditions that obese teenager Kaylea Titford was living in before she died, as her parents were jailed.
Kaylea, 16, who suffered from spina bifida, was found dead at her home in Newtown, Powys, Wales, in October 2020 after her parents allowed her to become morbidly obese.
As her parents, Alun Titford and Sarah Lloyd-Jones, were jailed for a combined 13 years and six months for her manslaughter, more horrifying details emerged about the conditions Kaylea lived in before she died.
The disabled teenager weighed 22 st 13 lb with a BMI of 70 at the time of her death, and her body was discovered inside her bedroom in conditions described as “unfit for any animal”.
Photos taken by investigators following the discovery of her body paint a clear picture of the conditions that Kaylea was forced to live in during her final months.
Fly larvae and two-day-old maggots were discovered on her clothing and bedsheets, while fly dirt was also discovered on a hoist that lifted Kaylea up.
A bottle of urine was found in the home she shared with mother Lloyd-Jones and father Titford in Newtown.
A fly on the bed, that was covered in stains, was also pictured by investigators.
On Wednesday, Titford and Lloyd-Jones were jailed at Swansea Crown Court for seven years and six months and six years respectively for the gross negligence manslaughter.
The court heard Kaylea had been unable to move herself from her bed for many months before she died and had not used the shower or toilet since before the March lockdown that year.
Kaylea was left to lie in soiled clothing, on filthy bed linen and puppy training pads. She died after suffering inflammation and infection from ulcerations caused by obesity and immobility.
Emergency service workers who were called to the house described feeling sick due to a rotting smell in her room.
When her body was examined maggots were found which were thought to have been feeding on her body in the final days of her life.
Lloyd-Jones, 39, admitted manslaughter by gross negligence last year, while Titford, 45, denied the charge and was found guilty after a trial last month.
Caroline Rees KC, prosecuting, said: “By the time of her death, Kaylea Titford was living in conditions unfit for any animal, let alone for a vulnerable 16-year-old girl who depended on others for her care.
“Kaylea lived and died in squalor and degradation.”
In mitigation, Lewis Power KC, representing Lloyd-Jones, said his client had grown “gradually overwhelmed” during the COVID pandemic and had been evaluated as having low average intellect and a major depressive disorder.
“During the lockdown period, when so many people suffered not just mentally but in socialisation, she became gradually overwhelmed,” Power told a sentencing hearing at Swansea Crown Court on Wednesday.
“Her coping strategies coupled with lockdown led her to develop major depression and she was no longer able to care for her daughter’s needs.
“It escalated to the horrendous situation where she withdrew from her everyday responsibilities and led the catastrophic outcome.
“She accepts she neglected her duties of looking after her daughter.”
Text messages between Kaylea and her mother were also read to the hearing, including one in which the teenager said she had soiled herself.
After her mother replied in frustration, Kaylea sent back: “Why do you get mad? It’s not my fault.”
During his trial, Titford claimed that his wife was responsible for Kaylea’s care.
When asked why he had let his daughter down so badly, the removals worker replied: “I’m lazy”.
David Alias KC, representing Tiford, said his client took a lesser role in Kaylea’s care as she reached puberty and was not trained in certain procedures unlike his wife.
