Carer who left woman to starve to death in her home jailed
A CARE worker who left a severely disabled woman to starve to death in her home has been convicted of gross negligence manslaughter and been sentenced to three years in prison.
Julie Cleworth had severe mobility issues following a stroke and required several visits a day from health visitors.
Tracey Burrows (56) was due to carry out a 30-minute visit to Ms Cleworth, but went to see her own mother instead, Liverpool Crown Court heard.
She wrongly assumed Ms Cleworth had not arrived back from a hospital stay, lying to her employer Unite Healthcare Ltd that she had been inside the property.
As a result of this false information, Unite cancelled Ms Cleworth’s care package. The 43-year-old was found dead on February 9, 2017 after spending four days without food, water or medicines.
“Your neglect of Julie Cleworth set in motion an unbroken sequence of events which led directly to her death,” Judge Neil Flewitt QC told Burrows at sentencing. “I accept that you neither intended nor actually foresaw the consequences of your actions.
“However, if you had stopped to think about what you were doing, instead of neglecting your duty, you would have realised that your actions might lead to Julie Cleworth’s death.”
Ms Cleworth had been completely reliant upon care workers after a stroke in 2013 left her immobile and required five visits per day. A week before her death she had been admitted to hospital, suspected of suffering from deep vein thrombosis. She was discharged three days later.
She typically spent all her time in the living room at the front of the house, but lacking the equipment to move her properly, the ambulance crew put her on an electric bed in a room at the back. Burrows had regularly cared for Ms Cleworth, so when she saw there was no light on in the front room, she wrongly assumed Ms Cleworth was still in hospital.