Son sentenced over delay in helping mother who died

A man who was the sole carer for his elderly mother has been sentenced after admitting he failed to request potentially life-saving treatment for her soon enough.

Paramedics were called to Avril Upton's home in Main Street, Ticknall, Derbyshire, on 22 April 2021 to reports she was seriously unwell. They found her living in squalid conditions, sitting in an armchair "soaked with urine and heavily soiled with faeces".

The 84-year-old was taken to hospital and died the same day.

Derbyshire Police said her son Andrew Upton, who was given a suspended jail sentence, described being left in an "impossible situation" as his mother refused visitors and "would not engage with medical professionals".

Upton's condition was labelled as "unsurvivable" by medical staff, the force said, and her son, who lived with her at the property, was arrested on suspicion of causing or allowing a vulnerable adult to come to serious physical harm.

Experts said Upton had died due to overwhelming sepsis, a bone infection called osteomyelitis and pressure ulcers, which had occurred due to infected sores caused by the conditions she had been living in.

Police said Andrew Upton, who is now 66, revealed his mother de-registered from her GP practice more than 30 years ago, and refused access to their rented property to professionals including electricians and council social care staff.

Her other son Miles Upton explained how, despite living abroad, he would speak to his mother on a weekly basis and that she had remained "lucid and capable of making decisions" in the 10 days prior to her death.

Andrew Upton was charged with single count of gross negligence manslaughter and three days into a scheduled four-week trial at Derby Crown Court, the prosecution accepted an alternative guilty plea of causing or allowing the death of a vulnerable adult.

Police said the plea was made on the basis that, in the final 24 hours in her care, it had been shown by medical experts that his mother "would clearly have not had capacity, that he should and could have contacted the ambulance service more quickly."

Upton received a 20-month prison sentence, suspended for 18 months, on 9 October, with the force sharing details of the case on Tuesday.

Det Ch Insp Viki Ellis, from Derbyshire Police, said it was a "truly tragic case" that shows the "very difficult positions that those entrusted with the care of vulnerable adults can find themselves".

"It was clear from those that knew Avril Upton that she had very firm views - even if the outcome was one that led her to be extremely unwell," she said.

"Andrew Upton's explanation of finding himself in an 'impossible situation' is understandable in part.

"He was abiding by his mother's wishes and she, by all those who gave evidence to us, had the comprehension of what those decisions meant.

"However, what was also clear, and was the basis of his plea, was that he could have and should have sought the medical attention that his mother so clearly needed far earlier.

"Indeed, had he done so, there is compelling evidence to suggest that she may have been able to survive.

"This has been an unremittingly sad case, but one that, with an increasingly ageing population, should be a case in point about the significant obligations that those with caring responsibilities have."

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