‘Mother from hell’ let 32-year-old vulnerable daughter reach just five stone before death

A woman described as the “mother of hell” and her husband have been sentenced to eight years in prison each for causing the death of their defenseless daughter.

Steffie Davies, 32, who rarely left the family home in Wrexham, North Wales, due to anxiety, was found dead and “almost skeletal” by paramedics called in May 2023.

Sentencing parents Alan and Bernita Davies, both aged 60, at Mold Crown Court on Thursday, Mrs Justice Stacey said: “There is no evidence that he was ever shown any love or affection.

“Instead, she was verbally abused by you and you were completely indifferent to her suffering.”

The two-day hearing was told Ms Davies was found with dirty, matted hair, suspected fungal infections of her skin and was “almost skeletal”, with pressure sores and joint contractures preventing her from eating or drinking without assistance.

Prosecutor Andrew Jones KC said he weighed five stone, nine kilos and was 1.70m tall when he died.

It was decided that photographs of his injuries were too distressing to be shown in court.

Bernita Davies was described as the “mum from hell” by a neighbor for yelling at her three children when they were young.

The court heard that when Ms Davies was last seen outside the house in 2017, her mother shouted at her and called her “stupid”.

Factory worker Alan Davies told paramedics his daughter had not left her bed for 12 months before she died, while her younger brother was found bed-bound in December 2022 and too weak to open the box of chocolates Ms Davies had given him for Christmas.

Miss Justice Stacey said: “While he lay in extreme pain, exhausted and dying in the front room of the house, you both went on with your lives, going to work, feeding from the well-stocked fridge and pantry, while he lay in the next room, starving and unable to feed himself. You ignored him.”

The judge said text messages between mother and daughter showed Bernita Davies “ghosting” her and there was no response to a message in August 2022 in which Ms Davies asked for something to calm her stomach or protein drinks.

Miss Justice Stacey said she did not accept there was evidence of “genuine remorse”, adding that the couple had shown victim blaming and self-pity in their pre-sentence report.

She said Ms Davies had no health problems before her death, adding: “It was you, it was her parents, it was you.”

Supermarket chef Bernita Davies called paramedics at 8.30am on May 26, 2023, to report her daughter’s death, and later told officers she had checked on her the previous day and found her asleep.

But the court heard Ms Davies was likely to have been dead for several days by the time emergency services were called.

Ms Davies’ older sister said in a statement that she showed potential at university, where she studied animal care, but as she got older her anxiety increased and she had difficulty leaving the house.

The woman, whose name was not revealed in court and who has been estranged from her parents for several years, said: “With the right support and encouragement from my mum and dad, he could have achieved so much in his life.

“Instead he was left to deteriorate into insignificance in the most inhumane way possible. No sentence can be enough to make up for that.”

Davies, neither of whom made any comment in police statements, was initially charged with manslaughter by gross negligence but the lesser charge of causing or permitting the death of their daughter was pleaded guilty earlier this year.

Detective Superintendent Sarah-Jayne Williams, senior investigating officer, said: “It is difficult to understand how a once fit and healthy woman could deteriorate to the point of death without the intervention of her mother and father, with whom she was living at the time, and who was fully aware that her condition was deteriorating.

“Both Alan and Bernita Davies acknowledged that the care they provided for their daughter was woefully inadequate, leading to her tragic and inevitable death.”

A Wrexham Council spokesman said: “Steffie Davies was not known to social services in Wrexham, but we will be liaising with the North Wales Safeguarding Board to assess whether this case meets the threshold for investigation.”