Three years have passed since Robert Morgan, 61, abandoned his starving wife Dorothy, 71, to die of sepsis in their filthy home. Dorothy’s weight dropped dramatically, and he cut off her water supply for a week. She had gangrene and sepsis, and her body was covered with her waste.
Acute renal failure, which was associated with severe dehydration and sepsis, was the cause of her death ten days later.
Morgan was found guilty of manslaughter for allegedly ignoring his wife’s plight and neglecting her fundamental human needs. She was 63 pounds when she was brought to the hospital; she passed away on February 4, 2021.
When accused of not intervening because he “could not be bothered,” Morgan denied leaving Dorothy to die and said that he had supplied enough food and water during cross-examination.
Robert had a responsibility to look after Dorothy, according to Detective Superintendent Matt Scott, who oversaw the investigation into her murder. However, his care fell well short of even the most basic expectations. The former factory worker spent her last days in a rundown two-story house in Whitehaven, where she became clinically dehydrated and badly starved after being refused water for a week.
The husband of Dorothy Morgan was found guilty of manslaughter by gross negligence by a jury. Even though the court heard that Morgan had cancer, the medical examiners determined that it had no role in her death. Her very malnourished condition and untreated infected pressure ulcers were the pathologists’ final determinations as to what killed Morgan. Some of the pensioner’s leg sores were so deep that the paramedic could see the bones.
According to a geriatrician specializing in caring for the elderly, Morgan’s urine production dropped to nil since she hadn’t been given enough fluids for seven to ten days. The jury was told that the pensioner was ‘terrified’ of hospitals and had explicitly instructed Robert not to contact physicians if she needed medical assistance. During prosecutor Iain Simkin KC’s cross-examination, Robert admitted failing to address her basic human needs beginning in early January 2021. His excuse was that he had been so overwhelmed by life that he failed to recognize her dire condition. Thus, he refused to accept full responsibility for her death.
The stepson, David Holyoak, 53, was also convicted as an accessory to the crime.
This case is among the most heinous manslaughter by gross negligence that Gail O’Brien, senior crown prosecutor for CPS North West, has seen.
