Mum Leaves Dying Daughter Watching TV While She Heads to the Pub, Ignoring Serious Illness as Tragic Fatal Accident Inquiry Unfolds
In a heartbreaking case, a mother left her seriously ill 13-year-old daughter, Robyn, alone to watch the TV show Tipping Point while she went to the pub, believing her daughter was exaggerating her symptoms. Sharon Goldie, 49, refused to take Robyn to the hospital, assuming she only had a “stomach bug,” and instead left her to fend for herself. The fatal accident inquiry, now underway at Hamilton Sheriff Court, has revealed troubling details about Robyn’s tragic death.
Goldie reportedly told the court that she believed Robyn didn’t need medical attention, claiming, “I thought she was getting better and didn’t need to go to the hospital.” She explained her reasoning by saying, “I told her only people with heart attacks need ambulances.” Medics later discovered that Robyn had developed peritonitis and suffered from a perforated duodenal ulcer, which ultimately led to her death in July 2018.
The inquiry also heard that after returning home from the pub, Goldie found her daughter unresponsive on the sofa. Despite Robyn’s condition, Goldie and her friend Jim Duffy sat outside drinking. When Duffy later checked on Robyn, he found she had already passed away, and rigor mortis had set in.
Goldie admitted to neglecting Robyn between July 2017 and July 2018, which included failing to provide her with adequate food, clothing, or heating, as well as exposing her to unhygienic living conditions, including cat urine and feces. She was jailed for three years and six months in 2020 after pleading guilty to willful ill-treatment and neglect.
Further shocking details emerged during the inquiry, with claims that Goldie discouraged Robyn from reporting an alleged rape, telling her it would involve medical examinations and a court appearance. Goldie also described Robyn as “boasting” that she was “no longer a virgin” after the alleged assault by a 14-year-old boy.
The fatal accident inquiry continues to investigate the circumstances leading to Robyn’s death.