The jurors were shown photos of the “disgusting” bedroom where an obese teen was found dead.
Kaylea Titford, 16, weighed 22 and 13 lbs, with a body mass index of 70, when she died in October 2020 at her home in Powys, Wales, where she was found lying in dirty clothes and bedding.
Her father Alun Titford, 45, denies manslaughter by gross negligence and is on trial at Mold Crown Court.
On Friday, the jury was shown photographs and body-worn images of Kaylea’s living conditions, with the prosecution describing them as “misery and decay.”
The footage – which the defense admitted was “repulsive” and “horrifying” – shows the disabled teen, who had spina bifida and was confined to a wheelchair, being forced to lie in soiled clothing and bedding.
The court was told earlier that police described an “unbearable” putrid smell and maggots and flies on her body.
Photos released Friday showed larvae and puparia on the teen’s bedding and fly debris on a hoist used to lift her.
The bedroom was also found to be full of clutter and debris, including cooking utensils and piles of clothing.
The terms were previously described by prosecutor Caroline Rees as “unsuitable for any animal”.
Kaylea, who was completely dependent on others for her care, was found lying on dirty “puppy pads” and had not been bathed for weeks, the jurors were told.
She had dirty and dull hair and sore skin, including pressure marks on her legs.
David Elias KC defended Alun Titford, telling the jury to “separate themselves” from the “graphic nature” of the images.
“The horror at the end of the case is not necessarily the measure of guilt or innocence.
“It’s repulsive, it’s horrific, there’s no arguing about it, but you have to look at how it got to this point.”
Kaylea and her family had been “abandoned” by health and social services, Elias said in his closing speech.
“Not every family that is abandoned ends up in the situation we’ve seen, thank God, but it’s important evidence, we argue, in the context of this defendant’s conduct.”
Kaylea was fired from physical therapy in 2017 and from dietetics a year later because her mother, Sarah Lloyd-Jones, failed to reschedule.
Read more:
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In April 2017, a social worker agreed with Ms Lloyd-Jones that there was no role for the team specializing in children with disabilities, the court heard.
Mrs Lloyd-Jones, who has six children with Titford, has pleaded guilty to homicide by gross negligence, the jury was told.
She was responsible for most of Kaylea’s care as she reached puberty, with Titford stepping back as he was not “comfortable”.
Titford, a mover, worked up to 50 hours a week and 15 days before Kaylea died.
Mr Elias said: “Here’s a defendant who was at work all the time, who we quite rightly say because he was entitled, because of all she had done so well, really believed until the day Kaylea was found that Sarah Lloyd-Jones was doing the right thing was giving the right treatment, and didn’t know she wasn’t.
He said it was “reasonable” for Titford to believe his partner was taking care of Kaylea and dealing with the danger of the pressure sores on her legs.
“It was Sarah who had to deal with that, and that’s not a pass-on, that’s what happened.”
Titford, from Colwyn, Newtown in Powys, also denies an alternate count of causing or authorizing the death of a child.
The trial has been adjourned until Monday, when Judge Martin Griffiths will summarize the case and the jury is expected to begin deliberating.