Parents who left morbidly obese daughter to dies in squalor have jail terms increased at Court of Appeal

A mother and father jailed for leaving their morbidly obese daughter to die in bed-ridden squalor have had their sentences increased to eight years and ten years respectively at the Court of Appeal.

Kaylea Titford, 16, was found in conditions described as “unfit for any animal”, in soiled clothing and bed linen, following her death at the family home in Newtown, Powys, in October 2020.

Her mother Sarah Lloyd-Jones, 40, was originally jailed for six years, while her father, Alun Titford, 45, was previously told he would spend seven and a half years behind bars for gross negligence manslaughter in March.

On Friday, Lord Justice Popplewell, sitting with Mrs Justice McGowan and His Honour Judge Bate, said at the Court of Appeal: “The circumstances can only be categorised as extreme, Kaylea was living in unimaginable squalor.”

William Emlyn Jones KC, representing the Attorney General’s Office (AGO), said: “By virtue of the combination of the duration of the neglect, the nature of the victim’s prolonged suffering, the extent of the victim’s vulnerability and absolute dependence on her parents for care, and ultimately, the appalling conditions in which she was left to live and ultimately die, this is an offence which falls into the definition of ‘extreme’.”

Lewis Power KC and David Elias KC, representing Lloyd-Jones and Titford respectively, both argued the original sentences were “well placed”.

Lloyd-Jones, watching via video-link, was unmoved as her jail term was increased to eight years, while Titford was not present to hear his sentence rise to ten years.