Teen died watching Tipping Point as mum 'went to pub'
An inquiry has heard how a woman in Scotland left her dying daughter watching TV quiz show Tipping Point and went to the pub. 49-year-old Sharon Goldie refused to let 13-year-old daughter Robyn go to hospital and believed she was suffering from a "stomach bug", reports the Mirror.
A fatal accident inquiry, which was held at Hamilton Sheriff Court in South Lanarkshire in Scotland, heard how Goldie left Robyn watching TV before she went drinking. In evidence, Goldie claimed she believed Robyn was "exaggerating" her symptoms in July 2018 and had left her in the house to go out.
But when Goldie returned to her home in Wishaw, Robyn was found unresponsive on the sofa. The inquiry heard that Goldie and her friend, Jim Duffy, sat outside drinking but when he checked on Robyn she was not breathing and rigor mortis had set in. For the latest health news, sign up to our newsletter here.
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In evidence, Goldie said: "I thought she was getting better and didn't need to go to hospital. 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."
Medics discovered that Robyn had developed peritonitis, which is an infection of the inner lining of the tummy, and then suffered a perforated duodenal ulcer. In evidence, Goldie 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, from Kilsyth in North Lanarkshire, was jailed for three years and six months in 2020 after admitting wilful ill treatment and neglect between July 2017 and July 2018. She admitted failing to provide Robyn with adequate food, clothing or heating, hitting her and permitting her to smoke cannabis and drink alcohol.
She also pled guilty to exposing her to unhygienic living conditions including cat urine and cat faeces which led to her getting fleas. The inquiry had earlier heard claims Goldie told Robyn not to report an alleged rape as it would lead to her being examined by doctors and having to go to court.
Goldie said Robyn was "boasting" that she was "no longer a virgin" in the aftermath of the 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." The inquiry had been called by Lord Advocate Dorothy Bain KC, after ruling the circumstances of Robyn's death gave rise to "serious public concern". The probe, held before Sheriff Linda Nicolson, continues.