Negligent mother claims dying 13-year-old's pleas for help were 'attention-seeking'

Appearing in front of the High Court in Glasgow, Sharon Goldie spoke about why she left her daughter Robyn Goldie to die alone. While the teen was evidently ill, her mother left her to go to a pub. An ambulance was called to the home in Wishaw, Lanarkshire after the teen had passed away on July 26. Court heard the years of neglect that Robyn was subjected to. The negligent woman pleaded guilty to a charge under the Children and Young Persons Act but not guilty to culpable homicide. She will be sentenced next month.

For days before her death, Robyn had been begging her mother to call an ambulance. On July 22 she told her friend that she was ill and had not eaten for days. However, on July 24 she messaged her grandmother that she was feeling better.

Despite the message to her grandmother Robyn had been looking unwell, a friend of her mother revealed. When she complained of having pain all over her body, her mother chose to ignore it. One of Sharon's friends offered to take the teen to a hospital but she told her friend not to bother. The desperate teen tried to ask a neighbour for help but her mother stopped her from getting help.

On the day of Robyn's death, a social worker visited the home but they were turned away at the door by Sharon. Even though the girl kept begging to call an ambulance, she was ignored because her mother believed that she was trying to gain attention.

Robyn was left alone in the home as Sharon went to a pub with a friend. When the two returned, the teen was slumped over on the sofa. The mother continued to ignore the girl and went outside to have a drink. It was Sharon's friend who finally checked on the teen and found her unresponsive.

Even when the emergency services arrived, Sharon kept insisting that her daughter was faking being sick. The paramedics confirmed that the teen had already passed away. The death was due to peritonitis as a result of a perforated ulcer, the Daily Mail reported. If she had received medical attention on time, she would not have died.

The court heard of how Robyn was continuously neglected by Sharon. Social services had reportedly been monitoring the teen.

Sharon pleaded guilty to a charge under the Children and Young Persons Act for the neglect of Robyn. She pleaded not guilty to culpable homicide. She will be sentenced next month, but until then she has been released on bail.