A mother dipped out of her home and headed to the pub despite her daughter having a stomach bug, only to return and find her dead.
Sharon Goldie, 49, said her daughter Robyn, 13, did not need to go to hospital, but instead needed a rest. She left her resting on the sofa watching Tipping Point while she headed to the pub in Wishaw, Lanarkshire.
Upon her return, Goldie was horrified to find her daughter unresponsive on the sofa. Goldie had been sitting outside drinking with her friend Jim Duffy, but when he went to check on Robyn he found she was not breathing and that rigor mortis had set in, reports the Mirror.
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Giving evidence to a fatal accident inquiry at the Hamilton Sheriff Court, Goldie said she believed Robyn had been “exaggerating” her symptoms back in July 2018 and left her house to go out. “I thought she was getting better and didn’t need to go to hospital,” she said.
(Image: Daily Record)
“I told her only people with heart attacks need ambulances and I didn’t think it was a hospital job. I thought it was a stomach bug and paracetamol and ibuprofen would be what the doctor would give her.”
But medics later learned Robyn had developed peritonitis infection of her stomach and went on to suffer from a perforated duodenal ulcer – a sore in the first part of the small intestine. Goldie heartbreakingly added: “I knew she was unwell but didn’t think she needed an ambulance. I left her watching Tipping Point doubled up on the couch, she liked Tipping Point, and I locked the door behind me and left.”
Goldie, of Kilsyth, about halfway between Glasgow and Stirling, was jailed in 2020 after she pleaded guilty to wilful ill treatment and neglect between July 2017 and July 2018. She also admitted to failing to give Robyn adequate food, clothing or heating and allowed her to smoke cannabis and drink alcohol.
She also pleaded guilty to exposing her daughter to unhygienic living conditions including cat urine and cat faeces that led her to getting fleas. The inquiry also heard claims she told Robyn not to report an alleged rape as it would involve her being examined by doctors and having to go to court.
The mum claimed Robyn had been “boasting” that she was “no longer a virgin” following an alleged assault by a 14-year-old boy in a caravan near, Bellshill, Lanarkshire.
She said: “She was boasting about it, it wasn’t a complaint but I was having to try and calm myself down because my blood was boiling. I told her she would be examined by doctors, have a lot to do with the court and the press would then get involved and it would follow her about all of her life.”
Dorothy Bain KC, the Lord Advocate, ordered the inquiry after ruling circumstances gave rise to “serious public concern.” The probe into the death continues.
If you or somebody you know has been affected by this story, contact Victim Support for free, confidential advice on 08 08 16 89 111 or visit their website.
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