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Relatives convicted over death of emaciated 18-year-old Jordan Burling Relatives convicted over death of emaciated 18-year-old Jordan Burling
(about 1 hour later)
The mother and grandmother of a teenager who was allowed to “rot to death” on an inflatable mattress have been convicted of his manslaughter. The mother and grandmother of an 18-year-old boy left to “rot to death” in his own home have been found guilty of manslaughter.
Jordan Burling was said to have resembled the victim of a second world war death camp when paramedics found him lying lifelessly on the makeshift bed, weighing just six stone (38kg). Jordan Burling was found on an inflatable mattress wearing a soiled nappy and weighing less than 38kg (six stone) at home in Leeds in June 2016.
As a result of barely moving for weeks, he was covered in bed sores, and was wearing a soiled nappy when he died from acute bronchopneumonia at his home in the Farnley area of Leeds in June 2016. He died shortly after from acute bronchopneumonia, caused as a result of malnutrition, immobility and infected bed-sores that were so deep they left bone exposed.
On Tuesday, a jury at Leeds Crown Court unanimously convicted his 45-year-old mother Dawn Cranston of manslaughter, as well as his grandmother, Denise Cranston, 70. An expert said it was the worst case of malnutrition he had seen in 26 years’ experience, and likened Jordan’s condition to that of a second world war concentration camp victim.
Burling’s 25-year-old sister, Abigail Burling, was found not guilty of manslaughter, but guilty of an alternative charge of causing or allowing the death of a vulnerable person. At Leeds crown court on Tuesday, Jordan’s mother Dawn Cranston, 45, was found guilty of manslaughter by gross negligence, along with his grandmother, Denise Cranston, 70.
During the five-week trial, prosecutor Nicholas Lumley QC described the extent of 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.” Jordan’s sister, Abigail Burling, 25, lived nearby and often visited the home. She was found guilty of causing or allowing the death of a vulnerable person.
Paramedic Bridget Shepherd claimed the dying man looked “very, very pale and very emaciated” when she first attempted to treat him on 30 June 2016 - the day of his death. Prosecutor Nicholas Lumley QC said Jordan “had been allowed to decay, to rot to death, by those closest to him, over a period of at least several weeks”.
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”. He had not been to school since he was 12, the court heard. Teachers at his primary school remember him defecating on the floor and said he had head lice. He had not seen a dentist since 2009, when 16 of his teeth were treated, including four extractions.
“From the time Jordan was taken out of school, he became increasingly anonymous. Education and social services played little part in his life,” Lumley told jurors.
“He only really had contact with his immediate family. He may have been invisible to the authorities but not so to these defendants.”
Jordan’s relatives told the court that he had been a healthy teenager. His grandmother said his health deteriorated about three months before his death on 30 June and that he refused to go to the doctor.
“He went to the toilet one day and said something had cracked in his leg. He then decided he wasn’t going to walk,” she told police.
She said they made a makeshift bed for him in the lounge of their Farnley home due to his immobility and he had to wear adult nappies. The court heard she and her daughter tried to clean his bedsores with sanitary towels and salty water.
Jordan’s mother said she would feed him “pizzas, spaghetti bolognese, ravioli, spare ribs, crisps, Haribo and all sorts of different things”. But she struggled to keep track of his diet and dental hygiene after she started working frequent night shifts in 2011, she told jurors. His weight had been up and down for a “few years”, she admitted.
When paramedics arrived to treat him on the day of Jordan’s death his mother told them he “had not been eating for a few weeks”.
Paramedic Bridget Shepherd, who spent 20 minutes trying to revive the teenager, said he looked “very, very pale and very emaciated” and that his bone structure was clearly visible.
A series of witnesses claimed that the 18-year-old’s mother “did not seem bothered” as medics attempted to revive him with CPR, while Denise Cranston reportedly remained seated in a nearby armchair.A series of witnesses claimed that the 18-year-old’s mother “did not seem bothered” as medics attempted to revive him with CPR, while Denise Cranston reportedly remained seated in a nearby armchair.
Dawn Cranston was heard telling a 999 operator shortly before Burling’s death that his unresponsive state was a “blessing” as it meant she would not have to go work that day. Dawn Cranston was heard telling a 999 operator shortly before Jordan’s death that his unresponsive state was a “blessing” as it meant she would not have to go to 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. 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.
Referencing the comment, he said: “I was surprised by everyone’s lack of emotion. It is a strange thing to say after he had just died.” “I was surprised by everyone’s lack of emotion. It is a strange thing to say after he had just died,” he told the court.
Another police officer claimed the deceased’s mother 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. A neighbour said the family was viewed as “strange and reclusive”. The court heard their home was regularly targeted by youths throwing eggs at windows and banging on the door over a period of several years.
Giving evidence in the trial, Burling’s mother claimed that he suddenly started to lose weight in April 2016 but refused to go to the doctors after previously being turned away for arriving “a minute late”. Sandra Detchon, who lived nearby, said the family did not report the attacks on the house to the police or the council and it was during this time, in 2006, that Denise Cranston’s husband took his own life.
Crying throughout her account of the months immediately preceding his passing, she claimed that the teenager “suddenly got to the point where he would not move out of the chair or anything like that”. Jordan’s mother said her father’s suicide in the room next door was one of a series of traumatic events in her life.
She added: “He did not think he would die. I did not want him to die.” In 2002 she gave birth at home without telling anybody she was pregnant. While searching the house following Jordan’s death, police found a rucksack which contained bags of “rancid-smelling liquid” and baby’s bones.
Before the trial, Dawn Cranston admitted endeavouring to conceal a birth after hiding the remains of her dead baby in a rucksack for about 14 years. Prior to the trial, Dawn Cranston admitted endeavouring to conceal a birth after hiding the remains of her dead baby in a rucksack for about 14 years.
Dawn Cranston told jurors at Leeds crown court that she “panicked” after giving birth alone in her bedroom after suddenly realising she was pregnant in 2002 when she felt something “really heavy” in her body.
Following the verdicts on Tuesday, Gerry Wareham, from the Crown Prosecution Service Yorkshire and Humberside, said Jordan’s death was “one of the most shocking cases” the team had ever dealt with. “Words cannot begin to convey the extent of Jordan’s terrible suffering at the hands of the very people he should have been able to trust the most,” he said.
Dawn and Denise Cranston will be sentenced for the manslaughter of 18-year-old Jordan Burling on Thursday morning at Leeds crown court.
Jordan’s sister, Abigail Burling, will also be sentenced on Thursday after being found guilty of causing or allowing the death of a vulnerable person.
The trio were granted bail until sentencing.
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