A woman was stopped by police after she was spotted pushing her dead daughter’s body through a busy shopping centre.
Joan Kathleen Turnell gave officers a chilling response as she pushed her daughter Tracey’s remains around in a wheelchair. The 77-year-old revealed to police that she believed her daughter had been dead for over a year, reports Manchester Evening News.
The bizarre incident happened after staff at a housing association raised concerns about Joan’s behaviour in November 2023. Neighbours had previously reported a “horrendous smell” and a fly infestation at Joan’s property.
Housing association staff visited the flat Joan and Tracey shared. However, the pensioner refused them access to her home. According to the Romford Recorder, Joan wrapped Tracey’s body in a red coat and took it to the shopping centre, in a bid to prove her daughter was still alive.
However, housing officers followed her and could smell a “vile” stench coming from the wheelchair. It was then they made the decision to contact the Metropolitan Police.
Officers approached Joan in the town centre and moved the wheelchair to a secluded car park, where they uncovered a “heavily decomposed body” under the hood, reports the Mirror.
When Joan was stopped by authorities, she chillingly remarked: “Why can’t they just leave us alone? We have been fine and I have been looking after her.”
At an inquest into Tracey’s death, senior coroner Graeme Irvine confirmed that Joan was sectioned under the Mental Health Act. Police then visited Joans flat and found it to be “extremely hazardous” with faeces and other bodily fluids on the walls and floor.
They found “clear signs of infestation of rodents and bugs”. Joan was subsequently diagnosed with prolonged grief disorder and a brain tumour. She was not required to attend the inquest to give evidence as it was deemed “inhumane” due to her “severe” mental health problems.
She was also not prosecuted for preventing the burial of her daughter. Writing to the court, the pensioner said she does not know what caused Tracey’s death, and that she didn’t call for an ambulance as they “could not help”.
She added: “I kept Tracey with me because I couldn’t bear to part with her. I loved her too much.” Tracey had multiple physical issues in her life, including a curved spine, damaged knee, and deformed arms, according to The Recorder.
Joan revealed that her wheelchair-bound daughter had no social connections and that she’d never been in a romantic relationship. Mr Irvine characterized the family lifestyle as “off grid” and “withdrawn”, believing that Tracey’s life was heavily dependent on her mother.
Neither of the pair were enrolled with a GP, held government IDs or had access to the Internet. With no phone and no photographs of Tracey available, the police ultimately resorted to DNA for identification purposes.
Joan claimed she couldn’t remember when her daughter died, suspecting it to be in September 2022. She told the inquest the pair had been watching a film at the time, when Tracey’s eyes became “fixed and dilated” after she became unresponsive.
Due to the advanced state of decomposition of Tracey’s remains, pathologists were unable to determine an exact cause of death, resulting in the coroner declaring it inconclusive with an “unascertained conclusion”.
Recording an open verdict, he criticised the local authority, Waltham Forest council, for “missed opportunities” to intervene. He added: “The very tragic and concerning circumstances under which Miss Turnell’s death was discovered have caused me grave concerns.”
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