grinner
12-12-2003, 04:25 PM
Man kept dead mum in house for 3 months
JANE HAMILTON CRIME REPORTER
A MAN with learning difficulties lived with his mother’s dead body for up to three months before it was discovered by police.
Jack Armstrong had wrapped his 83-year-old mother Agnes in a blanket and placed her in front of a fireplace to "keep warm" in their West Lothian home.
The 51-year-old had managed to keep his mother’s death undiscovered for months after turning social workers away from his Bathgate home.
But late yesterday afternoon, police officers, accompanied by a doctor, broke into the house, at Falside Crescent, and found Mrs Armstrong’s remains under a blanket.
Her son was not in the house at the time and was later found wandering nearby. He had been caring for his mother with help from the council since the death of his father, also Jack, ten years ago.
Police, who described the scene inside as "a house of horror", taped the house off while they investigated, but are unlikely to treat the death as suspicious.
One police source said: "This is a tragic, tragic case. The elderly lady died and her son, who has the mental age of a schoolboy, simply didn’t know what to do.
"He carried on his routine as normal and seems to have been unable to accept his mother was gone. Instead he tried to keep her warm, putting a blanket around her."
Police have been unable to trace other relatives and it is understood Mrs Armstrong had an older sister who died recently, leaving the pair alone.
Today, Mr Armstrong was being assessed by mental health experts at St John’s Hospital in Livingston.
Mrs Armstrong was under the care of West Lothian Council’s social services but it is understood recent attempts to visit her had failed despite neighbours contacting the department to raise concerns. She had not been seen outside in recent years and neighbours said they only glimpsed her staring out of the windows of the house.
Neighbours said Mr Armstrong’s behaviour had appeared more erratic since his father died and said he had become fearful of strangers.
He refused to let anyone in the house and boarded up the windows every night to stop intruders or local children smashing the glass.
One neighbour said a GP had visited the house yesterday morning before the police were called.
She said: "Social services were always coming to the door, but Jackie turned them away. Finally, I think a doctor was so worried he demanded to see Mrs Armstrong.
The next thing I knew, police cars and an ambulance had arrived at the house and Agnes’ body was taken out about 4pm. She must have been dead for some time because there was a horrendous smell."
A spokeswoman for West Lothian Council confirmed Mrs Armstrong had been known to social services.
She said: "We are very concerned to hear about this incident and will be working as closely as possible with the police in their investigation.
"As a report is being made to the procurator fiscal, we cannot comment at this stage."
A spokesman for Lothian and Borders Police said: "Police are making inquiries into the circumstances surrounding the death of an 83-year-old woman who was found at her home in Bathgate yesterday afternoon."
A post-mortem examination is expected to be carried out within the next few days.
Police sources said it was likely the body had lain for up to three months.
He said: "We don’t think it was as long as five months, as some reports suggest - most likely three - but we will know more about it after the post mortem."
He said the death was unlikely to be treated as suspicious, but said police were not making any hasty decisions until the investigation was complete. http://www.edinburghnews.com/index.cfm?id=1362442003
how sad.
JANE HAMILTON CRIME REPORTER
A MAN with learning difficulties lived with his mother’s dead body for up to three months before it was discovered by police.
Jack Armstrong had wrapped his 83-year-old mother Agnes in a blanket and placed her in front of a fireplace to "keep warm" in their West Lothian home.
The 51-year-old had managed to keep his mother’s death undiscovered for months after turning social workers away from his Bathgate home.
But late yesterday afternoon, police officers, accompanied by a doctor, broke into the house, at Falside Crescent, and found Mrs Armstrong’s remains under a blanket.
Her son was not in the house at the time and was later found wandering nearby. He had been caring for his mother with help from the council since the death of his father, also Jack, ten years ago.
Police, who described the scene inside as "a house of horror", taped the house off while they investigated, but are unlikely to treat the death as suspicious.
One police source said: "This is a tragic, tragic case. The elderly lady died and her son, who has the mental age of a schoolboy, simply didn’t know what to do.
"He carried on his routine as normal and seems to have been unable to accept his mother was gone. Instead he tried to keep her warm, putting a blanket around her."
Police have been unable to trace other relatives and it is understood Mrs Armstrong had an older sister who died recently, leaving the pair alone.
Today, Mr Armstrong was being assessed by mental health experts at St John’s Hospital in Livingston.
Mrs Armstrong was under the care of West Lothian Council’s social services but it is understood recent attempts to visit her had failed despite neighbours contacting the department to raise concerns. She had not been seen outside in recent years and neighbours said they only glimpsed her staring out of the windows of the house.
Neighbours said Mr Armstrong’s behaviour had appeared more erratic since his father died and said he had become fearful of strangers.
He refused to let anyone in the house and boarded up the windows every night to stop intruders or local children smashing the glass.
One neighbour said a GP had visited the house yesterday morning before the police were called.
She said: "Social services were always coming to the door, but Jackie turned them away. Finally, I think a doctor was so worried he demanded to see Mrs Armstrong.
The next thing I knew, police cars and an ambulance had arrived at the house and Agnes’ body was taken out about 4pm. She must have been dead for some time because there was a horrendous smell."
A spokeswoman for West Lothian Council confirmed Mrs Armstrong had been known to social services.
She said: "We are very concerned to hear about this incident and will be working as closely as possible with the police in their investigation.
"As a report is being made to the procurator fiscal, we cannot comment at this stage."
A spokesman for Lothian and Borders Police said: "Police are making inquiries into the circumstances surrounding the death of an 83-year-old woman who was found at her home in Bathgate yesterday afternoon."
A post-mortem examination is expected to be carried out within the next few days.
Police sources said it was likely the body had lain for up to three months.
He said: "We don’t think it was as long as five months, as some reports suggest - most likely three - but we will know more about it after the post mortem."
He said the death was unlikely to be treated as suspicious, but said police were not making any hasty decisions until the investigation was complete. http://www.edinburghnews.com/index.cfm?id=1362442003
how sad.