Neglect Charges Dropped Against Couple Whose Young Son Died Of Suspected Scurvy [Look]

Neglect charges against the parents of an eight-year-old boy who allegedly died from scurvy have been dropped.

More..

Glynn and Julie Seabridge had been facing a joint charge of neglecting Dylan Mungo Seabridge who died suddenly in December 2011.

READALSO:

Who is Burna Boy’s Mother?

10 Songs that Shaped Yemi Alade’s Career

The couple were accused of failing to seek adequate medical treatment for him and were due to go on trial at Carmarthen Crown Court later this month, Wales Online reports.

But at Swansea Crown Court today prosecutor Patrick Griffiths QC said the CPS no longer intended to pursue the case against them on public interest grounds.

Judge Paul Thomas accepted the CPS decision not to enter any evidence in the case and entered formal not guilty verdicts in relation to Glyn Seabridge, 47, who had already pleaded not guilty, and his 46-year-old wife who had been deemed not fit to enter a plea or face trial

Mr Griffiths said Glynn Seabridge was not physically fit enough for the trial and said Julie Seabridge’s mental health had deteriorated because of the delay in proceedings.

Before accepting the CPS decision, Judge Thomas asked Mr Griffiths for an assurance that the Seabridges’ illnesses were genuine.

Mr Griffiths said both had genuine medical evidence pointing to their lack of fitness to face trial and both had been ill before their son’s death.

The prosecutor added: “I’d like to point out this is not a case in which the prosecution would have been seeking to allege the parents were unkind or uncaring but that they were misguided and sought to deal with their son without resorting to medical professionals.

“It’s a very unusual case.”

Glynn Seabridge’s barrister Jim Davis told the court: “He refuted the allegation from the outset and would have done so at a trial at which medical evidence would have been put forward that scurvy was not the cause of death.”

Dyfed Thomas, for Julie Seabridge, explained that although she had not put forward a plea her case too would have been that scurvy was not the cause of their son’s death and she too refuted neglect.

The couple, of Dolau, Eglwyswrw, Cardigan, were not at today’s hearing due to their medical conditions.

Dylan died suddenly at the then family home in West Wales on December 6, 2011, allegedly from scurvy – an illness linked to a deficiency of vitamin C.

Mr Davis told the court it would have been the defence’s intention at a trial to enter medical evidence from an expert at a Belgian university who he said would have asserted that scurvy was not the cause of Dylan Seabridge’s death.

Mr Griffiths said that if the trial gone ahead it would have been the prosecution’s intention to allege Dylan’s cause of death was scurvy and that the Seabridges failed to seek the proper medical attention for their child.

But he said it was “no longer in the public interest to pursue the trial”. He said the decision not to pursue the case had been taken after careful consideration and followed a lengthy case conference on October 29.

Speaking after the hearing, Iwan Jenkins, District Crown Prosecutor for the Crown Prosecution Service Cymru/Wales, said: “There are a number of public interest factors weighing against the need for a prosecution of Mr Seabridge in this case.

“These are related to concerns about his health and the likely effect of a prosecution on him, as well as the nature of the case and the likely penalty that a court would impose in the event of a conviction.

“It should be noted that any decision by the CPS does not imply any finding concerning guilt or criminal conduct; the CPS makes decisions only according to the test set out in the Code for Crown Prosecutors and it is applied in all decisions on whether or not to prosecute.”

CLICK HERE to follow us on Google+ so as to get updates on published posts & videos

TOP POSTS YESTERDAY