| Sydney woman left mother's dead body in bed for months |
A Sydney woman has escaped conviction on charges of fraud and failing to report a death after an inquest heard that after she found her mother's dead body in the old woman's bedroom, she simply shut door and proceeded as normal.
Noreen Peacock's "largely mummified" body lay in bed in her home in the city's northwest for nearly three months before it was discovered by a pair of real estate agents in October 2013, Glebe Coroner's Court heard today.
Ms Peacock's daughter and sole carer, Melissa Peacock, told police she discovered her mother's body before work one day in July 2013.
"She claimed ... she shut the door to her bedroom and told nobody about the death and carried on as though her mother was still alive," the counsel assisting the inquest, Ian Bourke SC, told the court.
"She told police she was in denial."
Melissa Peacock had contracted shingles the month her mother died; the 83-year-old had been showing signs of dementia in the years prior to her death but her daughter, apparently estranged from her two sisters, refused to put her mother into care.
Police found 350 sparkling wine bottles on the premises – Mr Bourke said Melissa had been drinking to "obliterate what she had to think about."
Police were heavily critical of her behaviour and with the quality of care she was able to provide her mother, who was described as a "delightful" woman.
"I would not have expected her to give up her job but I would have expected her to ask for help to care for her mother," Inspector Katie Orr told Melissa's barrister Greg James, QC.
Melissa Peacock was working six days a week as a receptionist in North Sydney at the time.
The charges of fraud, which related to Melissa Peacock's operation of a bank account without authority, and failing to report a death, were dealt with under the Mental Health Act.
The inquest continues.
| HAVE YOUR SAY!!! - What do you think about this story? Tell us here. |
|
