A JURY has failed to reach a verdict in the case of a couple charged with the manslaughter through neglect of the woman’s mother, a multiple sclerosis sufferer who died from pneumonia in hospital.
Eleanor Joel (37) and Jonathan Costen (39) denied unlawfully killing Ms Joel’s mother, Evelyn Joel (59), by neglect at their home in Enniscorthy, Co Wexford.
Justin Dillon SC, prosecuting, asked to have the matter re-entered in the next criminal sessions in Wexford in January to allow the State to consider its position. Judge Gerard Griffin granted the application and remanded both accused to January 11th.
Over the past seven weeks, a jury of five men and six women heard evidence at Wexford Circuit Criminal Court on how Mrs Joel died at Wexford General Hospital on January 7th, 2006, after she was found in poor health at her daughter’s house.
Yesterday, before sending out the jury, Judge Griffin told the jurors that in order to convict, they must be satisfied the accused had a duty of care to Mrs Joel, that they breached it, that their negligence was gross and that it led to or resulted in her death.
He added: “While this is not a tribunal of inquiry into the actions or lack of actions of any corporate body or person or group of persons, you may have regard to all the evidence you heard in this trial as you see fit.”
Shortly before 4pm, after almost four hours of deliberations, the jury foreman told Judge Griffin they could not reach a verdict. Some jurors were undecided, while opinions were evenly split among the others, he said.
Judge Griffin asked the foreman if, given more time, the jurors would be able to reach a majority 10-1 verdict, but the foreman replied he did not believe they could. The judge then discharged them from the case.
He thanked the jurors for their attention to what he described as “a difficult and at times distressing case”.
He excused them from jury service for life before asking the prosecution what it wished to do with the case.
During the trial, the jury had heard how HSE ambulance staff had found Mrs Joel lying emaciated and with bed sores in her own excrement in an upstairs bedroom at the defendants’ home at Cluain Dara, Enniscorthy, on New Year’s Day 2006.
She was taken to Wexford General Hospital, where she died on January 7th. State Pathologist Prof Marie Cassidy said she died from pneumonia, most likely after contracting blood poisoning from faecal matter infecting her open wounds.
“She developed blood poisoning because the sores became infected with bacteria . . . it had gotten into the open wounds because they hadn’t been treated until a later stage. It allowed the infection to progress and develop into the bloodstream,” Prof Cassidy added.
She said there were pressure ulcers on Mrs Joel’s back and leg and breaking of the skin, and evidence of inflammation on parts of her body. There was no evidence of long-term malnutrition or physical assault.
During the trial, the jury heard evidence for the defence that Mrs Joel was a stubborn woman who refused offers of help and that both accused felt they were unable to care for her after she began to deteriorate due to MS.
Nursing care expert Prof Patrick Carr said somebody with Mrs Joel’s form of “primary progressive MS”, which was diagnosed in 2000, would prove difficult for even some trained nurses to care for, while her double incontinence added to the burden.
“Coping with double incontinence, pressure sores, behavioural problems – all these things are very difficult even for trained staff. For someone with no training and given the lack of support that was forthcoming, the job was virtually impossible.”
Prof Carr said people with progressive MS often could not think rationally due to cognitive degeneration. This often led to a refusal to accept help and there was clear evidence that Mrs Joel refused help.
“I got the clear impression that Mrs Joel was simply falling through the cracks,” Prof Carr added, acknowledging that she was “dead against” going back to hospital.