GUILTY UK - Jordan Burling, 18, Died Weighing Less Than 6 Stone, Body Of Baby Also Found, Leeds, June 2016

[drama_farmer]

10:41
'One of worst houses I'd been into'
Ms Tiffany described the state of the family home at the time:

“The floor had food, including mouldy bread, on it. There was black mould two feet up the walls which gave off an awful smell. It was one of the worst houses I’d been into at the time.”

Family on trial after dead teen and baby found in Leeds house

BBM
The abhorrent condition of the home is suggestive of a "hoarding" type situation. The presence of so much "black" mold is certainly concerning. Breathing in mold spores (of the toxic variety or otherwise) can cause all sorts of physiological symptoms, especially over a prolonged period of time. Some opine that certain concentrations of certain types of mold/fungus can lead to psychological side-effects as well. . . IMO

Here's just a quick look:
From www.poison.org/articles/2011-oct/mold-101-effects-on-human-health

"...mold is associated with some untoward health effects in humans, including allergies and infections. (Some health effects attributed to mold may in fact be caused by bacteria, dust mites, etc., found in mold-colonized environments. So-called "toxic mold" has been claimed as the cause of "toxic mold disease"; this syndrome remains undefined and "toxic mold" as a cause remains unproven. "Toxic mold" is also unproven as a cause of the various symptoms associated with "sick building syndrome".1,2)"

 

[Legally Bland]

This is back in court today:

Details:Trial (Part Heard) - Resume - 10:02
Leeds Crown Court Listings, hearings, cases & details

I think Leedslive have given up now.

 

[KarenUK]

This is back in court today:

Details:Trial (Part Heard) - Resume - 10:02
Leeds Crown Court Listings, hearings, cases & details

I think Leedslive have given up now.

Looks like Leedslive have started reporting again - was there a break in the trial?

14:07
Trial resumes
The trial is resuming.

 

[Tortoise]

14:41
Dawn Cranston 'lied' to boss about Jordan's illness
The jury have returned and Dawn Cranston is in the witness box.
She is being questioned by Simon Kealy, QC
She was asked whether she remembered Jordan feeling unwell in September 2015.
She said ‘no, not at all, no’
She was then asked about a text exchange between her and her boss at Poundworld in November when she old him that she had been up all night with Jordan.
She said Jordan had been suffering with diarrhoea but when he recovered she had lied to her boss to get off work.
She said ‘I used to be really off with Stephen (her boss).
‘He was ok at that point.’
She added ‘I didn’t really want to communicate with Stephen.
‘I didn’t want to communicate with him. I just sent what he wanted I hear. ‘

Family on trial after dead teen and baby found in Leeds house - updates

 

[Tortoise]

15:01
Dawn: Jordan 'wouldn't listen to me'
Mr Kealey then took Dawn through the following months.
She said he was ‘up and about and mobile’ until April when ‘he started to go down’.
She said he refused to go to see a doctor and ‘he wouldn’t listen to me’.
‘He wouldn’t listen to us, he was obviously losing weight. It got to the point where he wouldn’t move out of the chair or anything like that.’
She told the court she was buying food from ASDA ‘all the time’ and asking him what he wanted.
She said he would eat every day and even had a Domino’s pizza.
‘I asked him about the doctors on numerous occasions and he said he would see one if he came round.’

Family on trial after dead teen and baby found in Leeds house - updates

 

[Tortoise]

It looks like she has been giving evidence all day

Details:Trial (Part Heard) - Resume - 10:02
Trial (Part Heard) - Witness Number 33 Continues - 10:22
Trial (Part Heard) - Case adjourned until 11:40 - 11:20
Trial (Part Heard) - Witness Number 33 Continues - 11:44
Trial (Part Heard) - Case adjourned until 14:10 - 13:02
Trial (Part Heard) - Witness Number 33 Continues - 14:13

Leeds Crown Court Listings, hearings, cases & details

 

[Legally Bland]

I wasn't really expecting any of them to testify.

 

[Sooty]

Does anyone else think its odd that there are breaks in the reporting without any sort of explanation (like legal argument etc) - I think someone - was it Tortoise? - said that yesterday the same witness was giving evidence all day. Are there reporting restrictions in place I wonder, would love to know if so, and why that would be, if anyone has any insight. I'm sure all will become clear with patience!

 

[Tortoise]

They've added a bit more to the 14:41 update;

Dawn Cranston said Jordan had a tummy bug shortly before Christmas but he ‘appeared to get over it after a couple of days.’
She said that he ate during the family meal on Christmas Day but didn’t have a full dinner.
‘Jordan was never one that wanted to have a full Christmas dinner because he didn’t like the veg and stuff like that.’
She then said after Christmas he was ‘still up and mobile’

 

[Tortoise]

15:26
Mother weeps in the witness box
Dawn is clearly very emotional and she is now in tears.
She said Jordan went ‘on and on about not seeing my doctors’ and he continued to deteriorate until he refused to move from his chair at all.
She said that with the help of her mother she would take Jordan to the toilet and wash him and his clothes every day.
She then decided to go online and buy him nappies in May.
When Mr Kealey asked her why, she said ‘Because he wouldn’t move and obviously we didn’t want it to go through and soil the chair or anything like that. They kept him clean.’
She added ‘We changed him every morning and night every single day.’
She then noticed marks on his body and discovered they were bed sores, after looking them up on line.
She said that she used salt water and pads to treat him and gave him Calpol.
Mr Kealey then asked her if she was in pain.
She said that he would often ‘talk like normal’ and ‘there were times when he seemed to get better’.
But she admitted that he clearly wasn’t well and she was struggling to cope.
‘I started to shut down,’ she said, ‘ In times of stress I start not to see the bigger picture.’
She also said that she told Jordan: ‘You’ve got to look after me when I get older and he said he would.’
The judge then said there should be a short break as the ‘witness is distressed’.

Family on trial after dead teen and baby found in Leeds house - updates

 

[Tortoise]

15:28
Dawn Cranston returns to witness box
Dawn has returned to the witness box after the break.
‘You all right?’ asked the judge.
‘Yeah I am,’ replied Dawn.

Family on trial after dead teen and baby found in Leeds house - updates

 

[Tortoise]

15:34
Treatment of Jordan's bed sores
Mr Kealey asked Dawn what she did about Jordan’s bed sores.
She said her and her mother washed them individually using salt water and then put sudocrem on.
‘I would do some and my mam would do some’ she said.
She said she would then cover the sores with sanitary towels and medical tape.
Mr Kealey asked her I she had all of the medical supplies at home.
‘I had to go out and buy them, constantly buy them’ she said.

Family on trial after dead teen and baby found in Leeds house - updates

 

[Tortoise]

15:36
'I didn't want him to die'
Dawn took pictures of Jordan and showed him.
But she claims that when he saw the photos ‘he didn’t think anything was wrong’.
She added ‘ I used to tell him that he needed doctors and he said he didn’t need no doctors and was fine.’
‘What did you think would happen?’ asked Mr Kealey.
A tearful Dawn Cranston replied ‘He didn’t think he would die. I didn’t want him to die.’

Family on trial after dead teen and baby found in Leeds house - updates

 

[Sooty]

This is so distressing......

 

[Tortoise]

Just a note of the advocates' names as it can get quite confusing with several defendants:

Prosecuting:

Nicholas Lumley QC
Chloe Fairley


Defending:

Dawn Cranston: Simon Kealey QC

Denise Cranston: Jason Pitter QC

Abigail Burling: Richard Wright QC

 

[Tortoise]

15:39
Mother bought Jordan an air bed so he would be more comfortable
Mr Kealey is going through texts that Dawn Cranston sent to Abigail in April.
In one of them she mentioned an air bed.
Mr Kealey asked her why she got him an air bed.
She said she put it in the living room, on top of his mattress so he could ‘sleep easier’ because he found it ‘more comfortable’.
Another text mentions a heat pad.
‘What was the heat pad for?’ asked Mr Kealey.
‘I can’t remember.’ said Dawn.

Family on trial after dead teen and baby found in Leeds house - updates

 

[SugarQueen]

Ok, I’ve gotten myself a bit confused here. When are they saying this all started? How long before he died?

 

[Legally Bland]

15:36
'I didn't want him to die'
Dawn took pictures of Jordan and showed him.
But she claims that when he saw the photos ‘he didn’t think anything was wrong’.
She added ‘ I used to tell him that he needed doctors and he said he didn’t need no doctors and was fine.’
‘What did you think would happen?’ asked Mr Kealey.
A tearful Dawn Cranston replied ‘He didn’t think he would die. I didn’t want him to die.’

Family on trial after dead teen and baby found in Leeds house - updates

I wonder if the jury were shown the pictures of Jordan. I might need to reread the beginning of the thread.

 

[Aescwynn]

These women are very frustrating because they'll say anything. I mean they just lie lie lie as if it's the most natural thing in the world.
Like the sister and her stories of Jordan eating McDonald's and playing football the day before he died; and now Dawn casually telling us that she was lying to her boss when she told him that she was up all night with Jordan because he had diarrhea. That she lied to the boss all the time, and anyway, Jordan was totally fine and scarfing down whole Domino's pizzas until April when he suddenly wasn't fine.

Gaaaaaah.

I understand that this family is pathetic and sad and this case represents a total failure of social services as much as anything. It's simply frustrating trying to follow their awful little narrative, such as it is.

In the end, trying to understand English law as it pertains to this case, I think the onus is on Dawn and I think the prosecution is demonstrating this pretty handily, but she is such a terribly sad individual. I'd hate to see her go to prison. She-- and her mother, too, IMO-- deserve intensive mental health care.

Just MOO.

Edit: Now I'm seeing how she's broken down and is now opening up about how she tried to care for Jordan in his last month. It's so horrible. I just don't understand why a doctor wasn't called, even though he said he didn't want one.

 

[Tortoise]

Dawn took pictures of Jordan and showed him.
But she claims that when he saw the photos ‘he didn’t think anything was wrong’.

This suggests to me that she was deferential to him. She didn't want to go against his wishes or was maybe scared to be in opposition to him, and I find it very sad that she thought of taking pictures to try to make him realise.