Mother and gran guilty of killing teen

THE mother and grandmother of a teenager who was allowed to “rot to death” on an inflatable mattress have been convicted of his manslaughter.

Jordan Burling was said to have resembled the inmate of a World War II concentration camp when paramedics found him lying lifelessly on the makeshift bed, weighing just 6st (38kg).

As a result of barely moving for weeks, he was covered in bedsores, and was wearing a soiled nappy when he died from acute bronchopneumonia at his home in the Farnley area of Leeds in June 2016.

On Tuesday, a jury at Leeds Crown Court unanimously convicted his mother Dawn Cranston, 45, and grandmother, Denise Cranston, 70, of manslaughter.

Mr Burling’s sister Abigail Burling, 25, was found not guilty of manslaughter, but guilty of an alternative charge of causing or allowing the death of a vulnerable person.

During the five-week trial, prosecutor Nicholas Lumley QC described the neglect that the two relatives showed towards the teenager, telling jurors: “Jordan had been allowed to decay, to rot to death, by those closest to him, over a period of, at least, several weeks.”

Paramedic Bridget Shepherd, who rushed to his aid, claimed the dying man looked “very, very pale and very emaciated” when she first attempted to treat him on June 30, 2016, the day of his death. She added that his bone structure was clearly visible and that his mother had claimed that he “had not been eating for a few weeks”.

Witnesses claimed the 18-year-old’s mother “did not seem bothered” as medics attempted to revive him, while Denise Cranston supposedly remained seated in a nearby armchair.

Dawn Cranston was even heard telling a 999 operator shortly before Mr Burling’s death that his unresponsive state was a “blessing” as it meant she would not have to go work that day.

Police Constable Ben McNamara, who arrived at the home of Dawn and Denise Cranston just hours after the teenager’s death, claimed that the first thing the deceased’s mother asked him was how much the funeral would cost.

Another police officer claimed she seemed overly concerned about whether she would be able to get refunds for “a Zimmer frame and American food” she had bought her son from Amazon.

Prior to the trial, Dawn Cranston admitted endeavouring to conceal a birth after hiding her dead baby in a rucksack for around 14 years.