A MAN who left his 90-year-old mother lying on the floor covered in vomit and excrement for several days has been found guilty of manslaughter.

Christopher Robin Smith, 69, of Netherhampton Road, Salisbury, was found guilty of manslaughter by gross negligence by 11 jurors at Winchester Crown Court on Friday.

The jury heard that Smith’s mother Doris was found by paramedics at the home she shared with her son on July 16 last year after they received a call from a concerned neighbour.

She was suffering from deep vein thrombosis, pulmonary embolism, kidney failure and bowel problems as a result of immobility, dehydration and infections and died at Salisbury District Hospital the following day.

Prosecuting, Richard Onslow said Smith had a legal duty of care and had failed to take the right steps to care for his mother once she had a fall.

Smith said he was just complying with his mother’s wishes to “fade away peacefully in her own home”. But when he was cross-examined it emerged that his mother last said this about eight years ago and Smith did not ask her about it during her last few days. He said: “I just assumed she still thought that way.”

He said his mother had always been responsible for her own health and even when she ‘took to her bed’ ten days before the paramedics found her, she had still washed herself and treated her ulcerated legs.

After she suffered a fall, Smith said he could not move her to the bed so he made her comfortable on the floor with blankets and pillows but he did not treat the ulcers on her legs or give her the medication she took for high blood pressure. He said: “I was a bit slow on the uptake, I didn’t realise her legs were that bad. I never badgered her for information, I just did my best to keep her going.” Smith said he didn’t ask her if she was in pain because he “didn’t want to depress her”.

Speaking after the case DI Nicki Davey of Wiltshire Police said: “When found by the paramedics she was in an appalling state, having been on the floor unable to move for some days.

“To leave someone, particularly a family member, in such a condition beggars belief and Mrs Smith must have suffered a great deal of physical pain and indignity prior to her death.”

Smith will be sentenced at a date to be confirmed.