Elderly Woman Pushed Decomposed Daughter in Wheelchair

Joan Kathleen Turnell, a 77-year-old woman, was discovered pushing the decomposed body of her daughter Tracey in a wheelchair around Walthamstow, east London, after housing association officers followed her due to complaints of horrendous smells and fly infestations. Ms. Turnell had kept Tracey's body in their flat for over a year, wrapping it in a red coat to convince officers that her daughter was still alive. Diagnosed with prolonged grief disorder and a brain tumor, she was sectioned under the Mental Health Act after police intervened. The inquest revealed their flat was extremely hazardous, and Ms. Turnell expressed she kept Tracey's body because she couldn't bear to part with her. Senior Coroner Graeme Irvine deemed it inhumane to summon Ms. Turnell for live evidence due to her severe mental health. Despite the tragic circumstances, she was not prosecuted for preventing the burial of her daughter.