Blackpool coroner probes death of neglected Debbie Leitch as disgraced mum snubs inquest
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Debbie Leitch, 24, who had Down's syndrome, was found dead at her home in Garden Terrace, South Shore in August 2019.
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Hide AdMum Elaine Clarke, who was her daughter’s full-time paid carer, was jailed for nine years and seven months after pleading guilty to gross negligence manslaughter in 2022.
Yesterday, Alan Wilson - senior coroner for Blackpool and Fylde - opened a three-day inquest into Ms Leitch’s death, and revealed her disgraced mum had refused to take part in the process.
"The court has been in contact with her at an earlier stage and the prison governor has reported to the court that Miss Clarke will not seek to play a part in the inquest," he said.
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Hide AdAt a pre-inquest review it was heard Debbie's father Thomas Leitch was due to attend but had recently died.
Monday’s inquest at Blackpool Town Hall heard from Dr Alison Armour, a consultant pathologist at Royal Preston Hospital. She concluded that Debbie had died of severe emaciation and neglect.
She said Ms Leitch also suffered from a severe skin infection caused by crusted scabies, also known as Norwegian scabies. The infection was so severe that police attending the scene were unable to identify whether she was male or female. The inquest also heard she was found covered in faeces at the time of her death.
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Hide AdThe 24-year-old weighed just under four stone (25kg) at the time of her death, having previously been more than ten stone (63kg), the inquest was told.
She said she could not rule out whether Ms Leitch had already been dead for up to 24 hours before she was found, and explained how her emaciated condition made it very difficult to provide a precise time of death.
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Hide AdThe BBC reported that paramedic John Wilkinson, from North West Ambulance Service, went to the house in response to a report a woman had gone into cardiac arrest.
He said he found Ms Leitch in an ‘unnatural position’ on the floor of the untidy room, where he reported seeing maggots.
The BBC added that Ms Leitch's cousin Stacey Muggridge had been ‘horrified’ by her appearance the last time she saw her.
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Hide AdShe visited the Garden Terrace home a month before Debbie's death, where she found the 24-year-old lying on a filthy mattress in a dark, foul-smelling room covered in takeaway boxes and dirty nappies.
In a written statement which was read to the court, she said Ms Leitch had been struggling to walk and was wearing soiled pyjamas. She also noted how some of her hair appeared to have been "hacked off".
She said Clarke would "never change the bedding", believing it was a "carer’s job". She said Clarke did not provide a balanced diet for her daughter, who was mostly fed Pot Noodles.
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Hide AdShe warned Clarke that Debbie would die if she was not looked after and reported her to Blackpool’s social services, telling them she was worried about her cousin’s welfare.
She said: "I'll never forget the last day I saw Debbie alive. I knew she was ill and not well, but the sight of her in the room will live with me forever. The stench was unbelievable... I can only describe it as the stench of death.
"Debbie was so skinny. Her hair had been hacked off. Her skin looked like raw flesh. It was like something out of a horror movie."
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Hide AdCouncil social workers said they visited the house in 2019 but did not see anything that raised concern.
The inquest heard a social worker again visited the home for assessment in early August, just weeks before Ms Leitch’s death, but didn’t find anything that particularly worried her. However, she said Ms Leitch appeared “generally unwell" and her room was “slightly messy".
The inquest continues...