A pensioner who was caught wheeling her dead daughter’s body through a shopping centre in a bid to prove she was alive had a chilling response when confronted by police.
Joan Kathleen Turnell was stopped by police as she pushed her daughter’s remains around in a wheelchair. Joan, who was 77 at the time, thought her daughter had been dead for more than a year.
Staff at a housing association initially raised the alarm bell in November 2023. It came as neighbours complained about a “horrendous smell” and a fly infestation.
Staff said they visited the flat Joan shared with her daughter, but the pensioner refused to let housing officers into her home. She is then said to have wrapped Tracey’s body in a red coat and taken her into the 17andCentral shopping centre in Walthamstow, London, in a bid to prove Tracey was still alive, reports the Romford Recorder.
However, housing officers, who had followed her, detected a “vile smell” emanating from the wheelchair. It was then they alerted the Metropolitan Police, reports the Mirror.
Upon being stopped by the police, Joan said: “Why can’t they just leave us alone? We have been fine and I have been looking after her.”
Senior coroner Graeme Irvine revealed during an inquest that Joan was sectioned under the Mental Health Act. Police who visited her flat found it to be “extremely hazardous”, with faeces and other bodily fluids on the walls and floor, and “clear signs of infestation of rodents and bugs.”
Joan was later diagnosed with prolonged grief disorder and a brain tumour. She was excused from attending the inquest due to her “severe” mental health problems, which were deemed to make giving evidence “inhumane”.
Joan also escaped prosecution for preventing the burial of her daughter. In a letter to the court, she claimed ignorance about what caused Tracey’s death, stating she didn’t call an ambulance because 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.”
The Recorder reports that Tracey suffered from a curved spine, damaged knee and deformed arms throughout her life. Joan described her wheelchair-bound daughter as friendless and without any romantic relationships.
Mr Irvine characterised the family as living “off grid” and “withdrawn”, adding: “It’s clear that her existence was parasitic upon that of her mother.”
Neither Joan nor Tracey were registered with a doctor, had government identification or internet access. Tracey did not have a phone and police found no pictures of her, instead identifying her using DNA.
Joan mentioned she couldn’t recall the exact date of Tracey’s passing but believed it to be in September 2022. During the inquest, she recounted that they were watching a film when Tracey’s eyes became “fixed and dilated” after she stopped responding.
Pathologists were unable to identify a cause of death as Tracey’s body was so badly decomposed at the time. It led to the coroner leaving it as 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.”
Don’t miss the latest news from around Scotland and beyond – Sign up to our daily newsletter here.