Whenever I hear of severe cases of neglect or abuse where the victim later died, I feel sad because they must have felt so trapped and helpless in those final days.
They would have felt so alone even though many of these cases took place in populated towns or cities where thousands of decent caring people live, but were oblivious to what was happening under their noses.
Take the case of Nia Glassie, the little girl from Rotorua who was tortured in horrific ways. She was isolated and helpless but I am sure that within a 10km radius there were many people who would have stepped in if they had known what was happening.
The same goes for the late Maureen Quinn, 82, whose daughter Joanne Quinn was yesterday found guilty in Napier District Court of failing to provide the necessaries of life to her mother. The case has horrified all of us because of the gory details of the neglect. No one, especially not an elderly woman, deserved to be neglected like that. The fact that her own daughter allowed this to happen makes it even worse.
During the trial this week the court heard how the "sense of neglect" of Maureen Quinn, who was discovered embedded in a couch and blanket with leg wounds, had a "stunning" impact on Hawke's Bay Hospital staff. The old lady was in such a bad way that she died six weeks after being admitted to hospital on November 15, 2011 from bronchial pneumonia.
