A chilling text message sent by a woman to her son has been revealed in court after her own elderly mother died in her "putrid" home.
Julie Lynette Delaney, 61, had appeared at Brisbane Supreme Court in Australia following the death of her 82-year-old mother, Noelene.
It comes after emergency services were called to the home where Noelene was living, to find her severely underweight, in a squalid bedroom with bedding and towels covered in feces, shortly before she died.
During her trial, text messages Julie had sent her son shortly before her mother died have been revealed.
As reported by News.com.au, details of Noelene's horrific death were revealed after Julie pleaded guilty to manslaughter.
The court heard how the elderly woman had been left covered in feces and at times was left sitting for hours on a couch that had been converted into a makeshift toilet.
On the day that Noelene died, September 18, 2020, Julie had sent her son, Scott Delaney, a series of messages, which were read out in court by Crown Prosecutor Caroline Marco.
Julie messaged Scott - who is not accused of any wrongdoing and is not facing any charges in relation to Noelene's death - that she was struggling to move Noelene.
She wrote at around 10AM: "I can’t get her (Noelene) up, she’s dead weight," to which Scott responded: "Is she dead?"
Julie then replied: "No, she is alive," to which Scott asked: "Is she breathing or talking?"
She then told him: "She is breathing but she mumbled," and when asked if she could understand what Noelene was saying, Julie added: "Sometimes I can."
Scott then told her: "Hand wash her, I'll be there this afternoon."
The next text message from Julie came in the afternoon, at 3:30PM, when she asked him: "Can you help me please?"
The pair then had a brief conversation in which Julie indicated something was wrong with her mother, before Scott arrived at the Pimpama property on the Gold Coast after 5PM.
The court heard that Scott was then confronted with a horrific scene, finding Noelene lying on the couch covered in feces, struggling to breathe, and making "groaning noises".
The court heard that "Mr Delaney yelled at the defendant ‘what have you done?’ and told her to clean the deceased up."
Scott then phoned for the emergency services, who found Noelene unresponsive in the home.
When they tried to treat her, Noelene went into cardiac arrest and was unable to be resuscitated.
The court heard that the home was littered with soiled towels, clothing, and bedding as well as feces, and that there was no fresh food, fruit, or vegetables in the home.
The bedroom Noelene had been living in had just two single beds which had been pushed together, and only dirty blankets and no sheets.
Ms Marco added: "While police were at the address the defendant removed a soiled blanket from the deceased’s bed and hid it in the cupboard, under the stairs, which police located.
"The house emanated a strong, putrid odor."
Noelene weighed just over 49kg (108lb) at the time of her death, which was ruled to have been down to sepsis as a consequence of, or due to, malnutrition.
Other significant featured including Alzheimer’s disease, hypotension, pulmonary disease, and drug toxicity were noted, as well as ulcers, which showed no signs of having been treated, leading to fluid and protein loss and contributing to the malnutrition.
Tragically, Ms Marco added: "A pattern of the fabric weave was imprinted into portions of the ulcer."
Noelene was also found to have had bacterial infections in her gall bladder and urinary tract as well as lesions and ulcers along her lower back, buttocks, upper thighs, as well as her genitalia.
Julie told police when questioned that she had never mistreated her mother, claiming that she had attended a doctor’s appointment on the day of her mother’s death and returned home to find her unconscious.
She also claimed that she hadn't received any support from social services in regards to care for her mother, despite Ms Marco revealing that Julie had missed calls regarding her mother's treatment and physical therapy.
When asked about her overall feeling towards the care she gave her mother, Julie responded: "I know I did a sh***y job, I know it’s wrong, but there’s no way I would ever harm her. I’m not 100 percent sure, but I did all right, I think, but I’m not happy about it."
Doctors believed that Julie suffered from schizophrenia and showed "borderline cognitive functions with deficits across the board”, with her Legal Aid lawyer telling the court that the 61-year-old did not appear to be aware of her impairments, which affected her reasoning and meant she wasn't aware her care for Noelene was below par.
Julie was handed a five-year sentence on Wednesday for the manslaughter of her 82-year-old mother, but the term was wholly suspended on the basis that further time in custody would only undo her ongoing rehabilitation.
Her son, Scott, who assisted with Noelene’s care by paying bills, delivering groceries on request, and taking her to appointments, is not accused of any wrongdoing nor facing any charges.
.jpg_kPtMNV?tr=w-1024,cr-0.0.1024.614&config=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)
Supreme Court Justice Melanie Hindman told the court: "(Noelene) ended her life in a way nobody would want to.
"No one would want to see any of their family end in the way she did.
“Your impairments do need to be taken into account. They do affect – not wholly but in a substantial way – your moral culpability for the offending.”
She added that it was a "terrible" failure of the system that meant Julie ended up as the primary carer for her mother, adding: "It’s impossible for me not to have very strong regard to the misery your mother must have suffered in the last days of her life."