Horrific details of how a woman died from a lack of care in her squalid home, covered in faeces and ulcers and using her couch as a toilet, have been detailed in court.
Julie Lynette Delaney shakily told the court she was sorry for her actions after her mother, Noelene Delaney, was found dead in her filthy Pimpama home on the Gold Coast in September 2020.
‘I’m so remorseful for what I’ve done,’ she told Brisbane Supreme Court moments after pleading guilty to manslaughter.
But even with the plea, Delaney won’t spend any further time in custody.
Instead, she walked free with a five-year suspended sentence hanging over her head after a judge found it would be detrimental to her recovery to send her back into custody.
Delaney, 61, was the primary carer of her 82-year-old mother at the time of her death.
Her son, who wasn’t accused of any wrongdoing, assisted in Noelene’s care by paying bills, taking her and Delaney to and from appointments and delivering groceries.
Noelene required 24-hour supervision and care and regular medical appointments, including occupational and physical therapy.
The court was told Delaney missed from aged care support group BlueCare and Gold Coast University Hospital regarding physical therapy appointments for her mother.
On September 18, 2020, Delaney and her son exchanged messages regarding Noelene’s condition.
They included Delaney telling her son that she could not get her mother up, she was ‘dead weight’ and mumbling.
Crown prosecutor Caroline Marco said another at 3.30pm asked her son for ‘help’.
She told the court Delaney’s son arrived at Noelene’s Pimpama home and found the ‘frail and malnourished’ 82-year-old struggling to breathe, covered in faeces and making groaning noises.
Emergency services attended the home later that night.
‘(Noelene) was non-responsive and in a semi-conscious state,’ Ms Marco said.
‘Queensland Ambulance Service officers noted she was cold to touch, gasping for breath, non-verbal and flailing her limbs.’
The court was told a ‘strong, putrid odour’ emanated from the house, which was described as being covered in faeces.
Police found the couch Noelene was sitting on had been fashioned into a toilet – with a large hole containing faeces, urine and soiled towels.
Ms Marco said Noelene would be left lying on the couch for several hours a day.
More soiled clothing, bedding and towels were found in the bedroom.
‘There was no fresh food, vegetables or fruit in the house,’ Ms Marco said.
Noelene’s cause of death was determined to be from sepsis caused by malnutrition, but other conditions included ulcers, Alzheimer’s disease and hypertension.
She weighed just 49.6kg.
Ms Marco said Delaney told police she did not mistreat her mother and cleaned out the couch hole every day.
Delaney admitted that caring for Noelene was ‘sometimes a handful’, but she never thought she couldn’t care for her.
She claimed she went to a doctor’s appointment on the day of her mother’s death and returned home to find her unconscious, telling police she cleaned up her mother ‘out of respect’ for the deceased.
When asked if she thought she had done the right thing, Delaney replied: ‘Not really, I know I stuffed up a bit, a lot.’
Delaney’s criminal responsibility was in failing to obtain proper medical assistance when her mother’s condition had clearly deteriorated, Ms Marco explained.
‘It was not a momentary lack of judgment,’ she said.
Delaney’s legal aid lawyer submitted that her client had demonstrated remorse for her offending.
The court was told doctors had opined Delaney suffered from schizophrenia and showed ‘borderline cognitive functioning’ with deficits ‘across the board’.
The 61-year-old did not appear to be ‘aware of her impairments’ in her function and had difficulty planning.
This meant she did not have the cognitive resources or motivation to arrange medical care for Noelene.
Delaney’s lawyer said her client was receiving support through the NDIS and was volunteering with a Gold Coast-based community support group.
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‘Ms Delaney herself required her mother’s assistance to raise her son,’ her lawyer said.
Supreme Court Justice Melanie Hindman said Noelene’s life ended in a way that nobody would want to, and Delaney did not appreciate the level of care her mother needed.
‘She must have been in a lot of pain leading up to and on the date of her death,’ Justice Hindman said.
‘It’s a tragedy it wasn’t recognised earlier that you weren’t a suitable person to care for your mother at that stage of her life.’
She sentenced Delaney to five years’ jail but declared the 82 days she had spent in custody as time served.
The sentence was suspended for five years.