A woman who left her elderly mum to die covered in faeces in her “putrid” and squalid home sent chilling texts to her son just hours before the infirmed woman was found unresponsive.
Julie Lynette Delaney received a head sentence of five years jail after learning her fate at Brisbane Supreme Court on Wednesday for the manslaughter of her mother Noelene.
In lieu of actual time in jail, Delaney’s sentence was suspended after a judge determined further time in custody would only undo her ongoing rehabilitation.
The 61-year-old walked free on orders not to commit another offence within that period.
Details of Noelene’s horrific death were revealed after Delaney’s guilty plea – including how she left her own mother covered in faeces and at times sitting for hours on a couch that had been converted into a makeshift toilet.
Scott Delaney is not accused of any wrongdoing and is not facing any charges in relation to Noelene’s death.
The court was told he assisted with Noelene’s care by paying bills, taking her and Delaney to and from appointments and delivering groceries on request.
Crown prosecutor Caroline Marco revealed Delaney texted her son just after 10am on the day of Noelene’s death on September 18. 2020, saying: “I can’t get her (Noelene) up, she’s dead weight.”
Mr Delaney responds with: “Is she dead?”
In the exchange, Delaney denies this and says her mother “mumbled” when Mr Delaney clarified if the woman was breathing or talking.
It ends with Mr Delaney telling her: “Hand wash her, I’ll be there this afternoon.”
Ms Marco said five hours later – about 3.30pm – Delaney texted her son saying: “Can you help me please?”
After a brief conversation – where Delaney indicated something was wrong with her mother – Mr Delaney arrived at the Pimpama property on the Gold Coast after 5pm, the court was told.
There, he was confronted with the scene of Noelene struggling to breathe, lying on the couch covered in faeces and making “groaning noises”.
“Mr Delaney yelled at the defendant ‘what have you done?’ and told her to clean the deceased up,” Ms Marco told the court.
Emergency services later attended after Mr Delaney phoned triple-0, finding the non-responsive Noelene in the home.
She went into cardiac arrest when paramedics tried to treat her and was not able to be revived.
The court was told the Pimpama home was littered with faeces and soiled towels, clothing and bedding.
There was no fresh food, vegetables or fruit in the house, Ms Marco noted.
Nolene’s bedroom consisted of two single beds that had been pushed together, with no sheets and just dirty blankets.
“While police were at the address the defendant removed a soiled blanket from the deceased’s bed and hid it in the cupboard, under the stairs, which police located,” Ms Marco said.
“The house emanated a strong, putrid odour.”
Noelene’s cause of death was sepsis as a consequence of, or due to, malnutrition.
Doctors also noted significant features such as ulcers, Alzheimer’s disease, hypotension, pulmonary disease and drug toxicity.
Fluid and protein loss from the ulcers – which showed no signs of having been treated – also contributed to the malnutrition.
Noelene weighed just more than 49kg at the time of death.
“A pattern of the fabric weave was imprinted into portions of the ulcer,” Ms Marco said.
She also had bacterial infections in her gall bladder and urinary tract and lesions and ulcers along her lower back, buttocks, anus and external genitalia and upper thighs.
The court was told Delaney said she never mistreated her mother when questioned by police.
She claimed she went to a doctor’s appointment on the day of her mother’s death and returned home to find her unconscious.
Delaney claimed to have not received any help from support services such as Blue Care despite Ms Marco revealing Delaney missed calls regarding her mother’s treatment and physical therapy at Gold Coast University Hospital.
When asked about her overall feeling regarding her mother’s care, Delaney responded: “I know I did a sh***y job, I know it’s wrong, but there’s no way I would ever harm her. I’m not 100 per cent sure, but I did all right, I think, but I’m not happy about it.”
Doctors had opined Delaney suffered from schizophrenia and showed “borderline cognitive functions with deficits across the board”.
Her Legal Aid lawyer said the 61-year-old did not appear to be aware of her impairments and this affected her reasoning and ability to know her care for Noelene was deficient.
The court was told Delaney was now receiving care through the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).
Supreme Court Justice Melanie Hindman determined not to send Delaney back to jail, saying it would impact her rehabilitation.
Delaney’s five-year jail term was wholly suspended.
“(Noelene) ended her life in a way nobody would want to,” Justice Hindman said.
“No one would want to see any of their family end in the way she did.
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“Your impairments do need to be taken into account. They do affect – not wholly but in a substantial way – your moral culpability for the offending.”
Justice Hindman noted there was a “terrible” failure of the system not recognised at the time that resulted in Delaney being the primary carer for her mother.
“It’s impossible for me not to have very strong regard to the misery your mother must have suffered in the last days of her life,” she said.
