Mother jailed after abandoning Down’s syndrome daughter to die alone

Elaine Clarke confessed to killing Debbie Leitch, 24, who had Down's Syndrome. She died from severe emaciation and neglect.

Clarke was convicted of gross negligent manslaughter and the judge said she abandoned Debbie "to die in pain, without nourishment in the most awful surroundings".

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A post-mortem examination found Debbie had an extensive scabies skin infection.

The family, who previously lived in Hastings, had been well-known to social services in East Sussex and there were concerns about Clarke's parenting skills and those of various partners, John Harrison QC said.

Clarke, who received weekly benefit payments of £215 to care for Debbie, pleaded guilty to gross negligence manslaughter after she initially denied the offence.

The 49-year-old was jailed for nine years and seven months.

Sentencing her, Mrs Justice Amanda Yip said Debbie’s condition had “deteriorated dramatically” in the months leading up to her death.

“Nothing was done to halt her decline. Debbie was starved, her scabies was allowed to run out of control, she became more and more weakened until she died,” she said.

“In her last days, she was denied even the most basic care and dignity. Anyone entering her room and seeing her towards the end of her life could have been left with no doubt that her life was in real danger.

“One way or another, you ignored that risk and left Debbie to die in her squalid room.”

After moving from Hastings to Leeds, Debbie weighed 10st 1lb. At the time of her death, she weighed 3st 10lb, the court heard.

Elaine Clarke confessed to killing her daughter Debbie Leitch, who had Down’s Syndrome

Mr Harrison said Debbie was dependent on mother-of-four Clarke, who was registered and paid as her carer as each of her children had learning or physical difficulties.

In 2014, the family moved from Hastings to Leeds to live with Clarke’s new boyfriend Robert Bruce and where Debbie used day care services.

Debbie was described by a support worker as “shy, cheeky and willing to give anything a go”. She went to college in the city and had a boyfriend.

The family moved again in August 2016 to Garden Terrace in Blackpool, but Debbie did not access any day care activities.

In April 2018, she was treated in hospital for Norwegian scabies, a condition associated with neglect, but follow-up appointments were not kept which would have alleviated her pain and discomfort with “relative ease”.

Family members and friends who visited her home later that year noticed signs that Debbie was in pain from her skin condition.

When confronted by her sister, Clarke told her to “mind her own business”, Mr Harrison said.

During a visit in April 2019, Debbie's cousin went up to her bedroom and saw her huddled on her bed.

She was crying for her mother saying her feet were sore, her hair appeared to have been hacked off and her skin was red and cracked, Mr Harrison told Preston Crown Court.

In June 2019, Clarke phoned her GP and was prescribed cream and antibiotics after she said her daughter had scabies and was unable to walk to the surgery.

Clarke cancelled a number of appointments with medical experts.

Mr Harrison said: “The defendant must have realised Debbie’s physical condition and presentation would raise concerns and made efforts to hide her true condition from the authorities.”

Social services intended to visit their home on September 2, 2019, days before Debbie's body was found on August 29.

An examination of her body showed she had died sometime between eight and 36 hours before the ambulance crews attended.