Mum accused of killing daughter, 13, with neglect
Teen didn’t get proper clothing, food or sleep and caught fleas, court told
A MOTHER has been accused of killing her teenage daughter by failing to provide her with proper food and clothing.
Sharon Goldie, 44, is alleged to have caused the death of her daughter, Robyn, at their home in July last year.
The schoolgirl was just 13 years old when she died.
Goldie appeared yesterday at the High Court in Glasgow, where not guilty pleas to the charges of culpable homicide and neglect were entered on her behalf by defence counsel Marco Guarino.
Prosecutors allege that Goldie ill-treated her daughter and ‘exposed her to unnecessary suffering or injury to health’.
They say she spat on Robyn, failed to provide her with proper food, clothing and heating, and allowed her to drink alcohol and smoke cannabis.
The teenager is said to have been subjected to ‘unhygienic living conditions’ which caused her to catch fleas at the family home in Wishaw, Lanarkshire.
Prosecutors further allege that Robyn was locked in the family home and that Goldie did not make sure that her daughter attended school or had an ‘adequate sleep pattern’.
The charge of culpable homicide that Goldie is accused of states that she repeatedly failed to get medical help for her daughter or stopped her from seeking suitable treatment. Robyn is said to have developed peritonitis – an infection of the stomach lining – caused by a perforated duodenal ulcer, and to have died at the family home.
Prosecutor Ashley Edwards, QC, told the court: ‘She was declared dead at her house when medical services were called.’
The allegations against Goldie span a period between July 12, 2017, and the day of Robyn’s death on July 26, 2018.
Goldie, who still lives in the house where her daughter died, was bailed until a further preliminary hearing next month. No trial date has been set. Meanwhile, tributes have been posted by friends on social media.
One message on Facebook read: ‘The first day I met Robyn was her first day of school. She came in, looked at me and had a big cheesy smile on her face.’
The friend recalled that the first thing that Robyn did was to compliment her, for which she said she was ‘very thankful’.
Robyn’s friend added: ‘We sat together and just talked for about an hour in a wee room until she had to go to class.
‘She was very nervous. I wished her well and made sure she was OK. She was so caring and I’ll never forget her.’
Another friend wrote: ‘Absolutely shocked that another young life has been taken.
‘RIP Robyn, thoughts go out to the friends and families.’
‘She was so caring’