'There were days in October when I brought her no food as I was depressed'

Sentencing of Eleanor Joel and Jonathan Costen for the manslaughter of Ms Joel’s mother, Evelyn Joel, brings to a close a case that shocked the nation.

After the harrowing circumstances of the case were reported in newspapers, the case featured on RTÉ Radio’s Liveline, with Eleanor Joel going on air to try and explain how her 59-year-old mother, known as “Ennie” – was a stubborn woman who would not accept help or agree to see doctors or nurses or go into a nursing home.

That issue of where responsibility lay was addressed during two trials – one that ended in December 2011 with a jury unable to reach a verdict, and one that ended in December 2012, when the jury found the two accused guilty of the single charge by a majority verdict.

Help not sought

Judge Seán Ó Donnabháin said the issue had been considered by the jury and despite the prolonged efforts of the defence to try and put someone else in the dock, the jury had held the two accused responsible. “The neglect was in their failure to seek help,” he observed.

It was clear at trial that the defence was not disputing that Ms Joel was seriously ill when she was admitted to hospital, but much of the defence’s focus was on the dysfunctional family background in which Eleanor grew up as her mother had to deal with an alcoholic and abusive husband.

Evelyn Joel left her husband, Billy, to begin a relationship with his brother, Alfie, and lived with him until he developed cancer and refused to allow her live with him because she was such a heavy smoker, whereupon she moved in with her daughter, the trial heard.

The picture of a couple unable to cope with a woman who, despite being seriously ill with multiple sclerosis, remained strong-minded to the point of obstinacy, emerged in Garda interviews with both Eleanor Joel and Jonathan Costen after their arrest for questioning about Evelyn’s death.

Failed to feed her

Eleanor Joel conceded to gardaí that after she became depressed with the discovery of a lump in her breast and the fact that she was pregnant, she may have failed to feed her mother for up to two days, but even when she did bring her food, her mother refused to eat.

“I fed my mother every day but there were days in October when I brought her no food as I was depressed. She could have gone two days without food or drink.

“From Christmas, every day I brought up food and drink but she would not take it.

“I tried everything after that, but she would not take it. When she stopped eating, I did not stop bringing her up food and drink,” she said before later adding in interview that as a result of her worry over her health and pregnancy, “I wasn’t minding her as well as I should have.”

‘Hard to mind’

Jonathan Costen painted a similar picture when he told arresting gardaí en route to Enniscorthy Garda station that Ms Joel was “a hard woman to mind” as she had MS and did not want to be helped, and he felt he and his partner should have received outside assistance.

But he, too, admitted failings: “I am sorry for what happened Evelyn. For my part, she was neglected by both of us. This neglect went on for two to three weeks.

“She was not cleaned nor was her bed . . . I felt we were out of our depth. It felt like the world was falling in.”