Estranged father of man found in soiled nappy and weighing six stone speaks out in court

Steven Burling says it is hard to recall his last meeting with son Jordan because 'I put a brick wall in front. I can’t really grieve'

The estranged father of a teenager who died after he was found emaciated and covered in pressure sores in his home has told how the young man appeared "pale and drawn-in" six months before his death.

Steven Burling saw his son for the last time before Christmas in 2015.

Leeds Crown Court has heard how 18-year-old Jordan Burling was found wearing a soiled nappy and weighing less than six stone in his house in the Farnley area of Leeds in June 2016.

Prosecutors said the teen’s condition had been described by an expert as like the victim of a Second World War death camp.

Mr Burling, 51, gave evidence on Friday on day three of the trial of Jordan’s mother Dawn Cranston, 45, who is accused of manslaughter, along with his grandmother, Denise Cranston, 70, and his sister Abigail Burling, 25.

Mr Burling told the jury that he separated from Dawn Cranston when Jordan was in primary school and did not see his son again until he was in his mid-teens.

He said when they first met again he thought Jordan looked “healthy”.

Mr Burling said: “He was quite tubby. It wasn’t fat, fat. It wasn’t obese. He was just sort of stockily built.”

He told the court he last saw Jordan before Christmas 2015.

“He looked pale,” Mr Burling said. ”He was drawn in a little bit. I asked him if he was alright. He said it must be something he’s ate. He looked poorly.”

Mr Burling told the jury: “He still looked a bit tubby when I saw him. He was just drawn in his face. There wasn’t colour in his face.”

The witness became visibly upset as he recalled his last meeting with his son at his home in the Seacroft area of Leeds.

He said he had difficulty recalling the details because “I put a brick wall in front. I can’t really grieve”.

(L to r) Denise Cranston, Abigail Burling and Dawn Cranston at Leeds Crown Court on Wednesday (SWNS)

Asked about Dawn Cranston’s parenting in the years they were together, Mr Burling said she was “a good mum, a caring mum”.

The jury has been told by prosecutors that “Jordan had been allowed to decay, to rot to death, by those closest to him, over a period of, at least, several weeks”.

They told the court that an expert dietician had not seen this degree of malnutrition in 26 years of working in the field.

Despite paramedics spending some 50 minutes trying to revive him, Mr Burling died as a result of acute bronchopneumonia, the jury has been told.

A paramedic told jurors earlier this week how Dawn Cranston “did not seem to be bothered” by her son’s death and a police officer said she reacted by asking how much his funeral would cost.

The jury has also heard how the remains of a baby boy were found in the house.

Prosecutors said it is not known whether the baby was stillborn.

They said Dawn Cranston has accepted responsibility for her part in concealing that baby and claim the incident reflects the defendant’s “propensity for failing to care for children”.

Dawn and Denise Cranston and Abigail Burling all deny manslaughter. They also deny an alternative count of causing or allowing the death of a vulnerable adult.

PA