The incident took place near Walthamstow Hight Street (Image: Burak Bir/Anadolu via Getty Images)
A pensioner who was spotted by police officers wheeling her dead daughter’s body through a shopping centre gave a chilling response to the incident.
Joan Kathleen Turnell, 77, was apprehended by police while pushing her deceased daughter Tracey’s body around in a wheelchair.
The pensioner, who believed her daughter had been dead for more than a year, drew suspicion from housing association staff in November 2023 due to complaints of a “horrendous smell” and flies at the flat she shared with Tracey.
Despite refusing entry to housing officers, Joan attempted to dispel concerns by draping Tracey’s body in a red coat and taking it to the 17&Central shopping centre in Walthamstow, east London, as reported by the Romford Recorder.
Housing officers alerted the Metropolitan Police after detecting a “vile smell” from the wheelchair.
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The pensioner told officers “Why can’t they leave us alone?” (Image: John Keeble/Getty Images)
Officers then intercepted Joan in the town centre and discovered a “heavily decomposed body” beneath the hood of the wheelchair in a secluded car park.
Confronted by the authorities, Joan chillingly remarked: “Why can’t they just leave us alone? We have been fine and I have been looking after her.”
Senior coroner Graeme Irvine revealed at the inquest that Joan was detained under the Mental Health Act.
Upon visiting her flat, police found it to be “extremely hazardous”, with faeces and other bodily fluids smeared on the walls and floor, as well as “clear signs of infestation of rodents and bugs”.
Joan was later diagnosed with prolonged grief disorder and a brain tumour. She was excused from giving evidence at the inquest due to her severe mental health issues, and was not prosecuted for preventing her daughter’s burial, reports .
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The woman was later detained under the Mental Health Act (Image: Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
In a letter to the court, Joan confessed she didn’t know what caused Tracey’s death and didn’t call an ambulance as they “could not help”.
She wrote: “I kept Tracey with me because I couldn’t bear to part with her. I loved her too much.”
The Romford Recorder reported that Tracey lived with a curved spine, damaged knee and deformed arms. Joan described her wheelchair-bound daughter as friendless and never having had a romantic relationship.
The coroner characterised the family as living “off grid” and “withdrawn”, stating: “It’s clear that her existence was parasitic upon that of her mother.”
Neither Joan nor Tracey were registered with a doctor, had government identification or internet access.
Tracey did not own a phone and no photographs of her were found; she was identified using DNA.
Joan couldn’t recall the exact date of Tracey’s passing, but believed it to be about September 2022. She recounted to the inquest that they were watching a film together when Tracey’s eyes became “fixed and dilated” as she stopped responding.
Unfortunately, due to the advanced state of decomposition, pathologists were unable to determine the cause of death, leading the coroner to record an “unascertained conclusion”.
The coroner ultimately delivered an open verdict, expressing criticism towards the London Borough of Waltham Forest for failing to seize opportunities to intervene.
He expressed his deep concerns, stating: “The very tragic and concerning circumstances under which Miss Turnell’s death was discovered have caused me grave concerns.”