A UNIVERSITY of Winchester academic’s role in investigating a case of gross negligence manslaughter has been featured in a new BBC true crime series.

Forensic Entomologist and senior lecturer Dr Amoret Whitaker was involved in the latest series of BBC One’s Expert Witness.

Dyfed-Powys Police enlisted Dr Whitaker’s assistance after the death of 16-year-old Kaylea Titford in October 2020. 

Kaylea was born with spina bifida and therefore needed a wheelchair, however, the teenager was active in sports, especially basketball, and even tried out for the Paralympics.

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Prior to the pandemic she regularly attended school, but within six months of the Covid lockdown she was bedridden, unable to use her wheelchair due to her significant weight increase and living in squalid conditions in her bedroom.

Her death was caused by infection due to ulcers that had formed from her inactivity, and her parents Alun Titford and Sarah Lloyd-Jones were found guilty of causing her death by criminal neglect.

Earlier this year, a court heard that the Winchester University lecturer’s analysis of the evidence showed that the fly larvae had been feeding on her body for at least 48 hours before her death, possibly longer, proving her parents as guilty of neglect.

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Both parents were convicted of manslaughter by gross negligence.

Dr Whitaker said: “This was an upsetting case for everyone involved but you realise afterwards you have done some good. You’ve helped with the police investigation and helped get justice for the victim. I think that’s a really important thing to do.”

Episode 15 of Expert Witness, entitled Grave Secrets and Lockdown Tragedy, in which Dr Whitaker appears, will be broadcast on Friday, September 8 and is already available to view on BBC iPlayer.

Amoret Whitaker is the programme leader and a senior lecturer on the BSc (Hons) Forensic Investigation, the BSc (Hons) Cyber Crime and Forensic Investigation, and the BSc (Hons) Forensic Science.