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Daughter let mum 'rot to death'
July 15, 2011
DAUGHTER was so overwhelmed by having to care for her sick mother she let the elderly woman rot to death, a court heard.
In the Court of Appeal in Brisbane, Agnieszka Alojza Miller was appealing her five-year jail sentence to be suspended after 12 months.
Last year in the Supreme Court, Miller, 46, pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of 76-year-old Kazimiera Hys at their Woodridge home, on Brisbane's southern outskirts, in May 27, 2006.
The Crown alleged Miller failed to provide her mother with the necessary medical attention leading up to the death.
Mrs Hys who was 154cm weighed just 36kg when she died of sepsis caused by multiple bedsores, and some of the ulcers had maggots in them.
The court heard Miller was suffering from chronic depression and had become overwhelmed at caring for her mother since 2005.
The court was told that before Ms Hys lost her cognitive functions, she repeatedly refused medical intervention, telling her daughter it was her duty to care for her.
In sentencing Miller, Justice Ann Lyons found Miller had no intention to harm her mother, but had a responsibility to seek help when it became obvious she could not cope.
Miller appealed on the grounds the sentence was manifestly excessive because not enough weight was given to the relationship between a domineering mother and daughter.
In a 2-1 majority judgment the Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal.
Justice Richard Chesterman said the sentencing judge had not overlooked any relevant matter and had identified the need for a sentence of denunciation and deterrence.
The Chief Justice, Paul de Jersey, sitting in the Court of Appeal, agreed and said the sentencing judge had not been shown to be in error.
However, Justice Margaret Wilson dissented and said she would have reduced the sentence to four years to be suspended after 10 months.
She said the sentencing judge should have given more weight to Miller's depression and the relationship between mother and daughter.
In the Court of Appeal in Brisbane, Agnieszka Alojza Miller was appealing her five-year jail sentence to be suspended after 12 months.
Last year in the Supreme Court, Miller, 46, pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of 76-year-old Kazimiera Hys at their Woodridge home, on Brisbane's southern outskirts, in May 27, 2006.
The Crown alleged Miller failed to provide her mother with the necessary medical attention leading up to the death.
Mrs Hys who was 154cm weighed just 36kg when she died of sepsis caused by multiple bedsores, and some of the ulcers had maggots in them.
The court heard Miller was suffering from chronic depression and had become overwhelmed at caring for her mother since 2005.
The court was told that before Ms Hys lost her cognitive functions, she repeatedly refused medical intervention, telling her daughter it was her duty to care for her.
In sentencing Miller, Justice Ann Lyons found Miller had no intention to harm her mother, but had a responsibility to seek help when it became obvious she could not cope.
Miller appealed on the grounds the sentence was manifestly excessive because not enough weight was given to the relationship between a domineering mother and daughter.
In a 2-1 majority judgment the Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal.
Justice Richard Chesterman said the sentencing judge had not overlooked any relevant matter and had identified the need for a sentence of denunciation and deterrence.
The Chief Justice, Paul de Jersey, sitting in the Court of Appeal, agreed and said the sentencing judge had not been shown to be in error.
However, Justice Margaret Wilson dissented and said she would have reduced the sentence to four years to be suspended after 10 months.
She said the sentencing judge should have given more weight to Miller's depression and the relationship between mother and daughter.
http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/...mum-rot-to-death/story-e6freoof-1226095181609