Kaylea Titford: Parents' prison sentences increased over obese daughter's manslaughter

The parents of a disabled girl from Powys who died after becoming morbidly obese have had their jail sentences increased over her manslaughter.

Kaylea Titford had just turned 16 when she died in her home in Powys, mid Wales, in October 2020, weighing more than 22st.

Her father Alun Titford, 45, was sentenced to seven years and six months in prison at Swansea Crown Court in March.

Sarah Lloyd-Jones, 39, Kaylea's mother, was jailed for six years.

The pair had their jail sentences increased at the Court of Appeal on Friday to 10 years and eight years, respectively.

Kaylea had lived with hydrocephalus and spinabifida since birth but had received mainstream education and was described as a talented wheelchair basketball player.

Lawyers representing the Attorney General's office (AGO) argued that Titford and Lloyd-Jones's sentences were "unduly lenient" and called for them to be increased.

William Emlyn Jones KC, representing the AGO, said the offence fell "into the definition of 'extreme'".

"By virtue of the combination of the duration of the neglect, the nature of the victim's prolonged suffering, the extent of the victim's vulnerability and absolute dependence on her parents for care, and ultimately, the appalling conditions in which she was left to live and ultimately die, this is an offence which falls into the definition of 'extreme'," he said.

Lloyd-Jones watched the hearing via video link from prison, but Titford was not present.

Lewis Power KC and David Elias KC, representing Lloyd-Jones and Titford respectively, had argued the original sentences were "well placed".

The sentences were increased by Lord Justice Popplewell, who sat with Mrs Justice McGowan and His Honour Judge Bate.

Lord Justice Popplewell said Kaylea had been "living in unimaginable squalor".

'Shocking neglect'

Officers from Dyfed-Powys Police attended Kaylea's home on 10 October 2020, after her family reported her death.

Police say the conditions in which they found Kaylea were "abhorrent", indicating "shocking neglect over a prolonged period of time, both environmentally and physically".

When Mr Justice Griffiths handed down the pair's original sentences for gross negligence manslaughter on 1 March, he said they had shown "shocking and prolonged neglect over lockdown".

He added that it was "obvious that she [Lloyd-Jones] was failing" in her care of Kaylea and that Titford had "ignored... the evidence of his own eyes and nose that [Kaylea] was not getting the care she needed".

"His long hours at work are not an excuse, he liked working, he did not like helping," he said, adding that Titford "could and should have done more to help, and ask others for help".

Iwan Jenkins, deputy chief crown prosecutor for Crown Prosecution Service Cymru Wales, told Sky News after her parents were sentenced that "cases of this nature are difficult to deal with".

"No child should have to face the horror of what she had to go through during her time prior to her death," he added.