Mum charged over ME woman's death

Apr 16 2009

A mother has been charged with the attempted murder of her 31-year-old daughter who suffered from ME, police said.

Kathleen Gilderdale, 54, known as Kay, was released on police bail last December after the death of her daughter Lynn, who was struck down by the illness at the age of 14.

Gilderdale, who lives in the village of Stonegate, near Heathfield, East Sussex, has been bailed to appear at Brighton Magistrates' Court on April 21, Sussex Police said.

The investigation into the death of Ms Gilderdale was led by Sussex Police's major crime branch.

In a statement, police said: "Kathleen Gilderdale, 54, of Stonegate, has been charged that between December 2 and December 4 2008, she attempted to murder Lynn Gilderdale, who was found dead at her home in Stonegate, near Heathfield, on December 4 last year.

"She has been bailed to appear at Brighton Magistrates' Court on Tuesday next week."

In an interview published in July 2006, Gilderdale described how her daughter's life was left "in limbo" due to the illness.

She said: "If someone dies, you mourn them, then you get to a stage where you know that person is gone and you move on. But Lynn is neither one nor the other. She is stuck in that room, not dead, but not alive properly."

In the wake of her death, relatives of Ms Gilderdale praised the young woman's "courage, which she showed to the end" in coping with her "life destroying" illness.

They said her death would "leave a massive void in their lives" and added "she unreservedly will be missed every minute of the day".