Man left wife dying on the floor

A WARRINGTON man who left his wife dying on the floor of their house for at least four days has been jailed for 15 months.
Michael Meanwell, 62, (right) of Gerard Avenue, Bewsey was sentenced at Chester Crown Court after pleading guilty to manslaughter at an earlier hearing.
The court heard he has left his 59-year-old wife, Susan, (pictured, below as a younger woman) a diabetic with learning difficulties, lying on the floor for at least four days before seeking help.
She was found in a state of complete neglect by paramedics on May 26, 2009.
The court was told she had a large number of pressure sores on her body, was soaked in urine and covered in and surrounded by faeces.
She had not had any food, drink or medication for at least four days. Parts of her body had become gangrenous and she had to have her leg amputated upon her admittance to hospital.
She was not expected to survive the initial 24 hours but clung onto life for three months despite the massive impact the neglect had had on her body.
The sores were so severe, however, she sadly passed away on September 9.
Meanwell was interviewed under caution and told police he had returned home from work on May 22 and found Susan lying on the carpet.
He claimed he tried to get her up using a broom but couldn’t. He also told officers that over the next couple of days he had attempted to call an ambulance from a phone box as he did not have a mobile or landline.
He claimed that the line had cut out on one occasion, during a second attempt he was told by the operator that it was not an emergency, and on two further attempts the phone was not working.
He also said he had knocked on all the neighbours’ doors but no one was in.
On May 26 he went to the doctors – which was further away than the hospital – and told them that his wife had collapsed four days earlier and had lain there ever since.
A Home Office Post Mortem concluded that the period Susan had spent on the floor contributed significantly to her condition and the severity of her infected pressure sores, which were considered to be one of the central factors in her death.
Officers investigating the case found many discrepancies in his account. It transpired he had indeed made three calls to the emergency services, however they were all silent calls and only the operator could be heard. House to house inquiries also revealed that most neighbours would have been home at the time he claimed he had knocked.
Detective Inspector Douglas Shaw said: “This is a shocking case of a woman who was left to die by the one man she should have been able to rely on and trust.
“What makes this particular incident even more disturbing is how Meanwell attempted to cover his actions up by making silent calls to the emergency services but failing to seek the vital help his wife required.
“Why Meanwell chose not to get medical help sooner is beyond me. He had looked after his wife since she had been diagnosed with diabetes in 2005. She depended upon him, and was unable to get help herself. He failed her and we will never know why.”

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