A WOMAN whose mother was found dead on a filthy sofa at their Didcot home has been found guilty of neglect.

Qualified solicitor Emma-Jane Kurtz was convicted at Oxford Crown Court this afternoon following a trial. 

One of the 12 jurors was unable to attend court today but the remaining six men and five women delivered a majority verdict of 10:1, following deliberation lasting more than seven hours.

Kurtz denied one count of wilful neglect against her mentally-ill mother Cecily, who was found dead in their squalid sitting room in Blackwater Way in July 2014.

The incontinent 79-year-old, who had depression and obsessive compulsive disorder, was found emaciated and slumped in the same clothes she had worn for years.

During the trial, 41-year-old Kurtz told the court her mum was ‘the most important person’ in her life and she would never have intentionally neglected her.

She claimed she only failed to force medical and psychiatric help upon her because she pleaded with her not to.

Kurtz, who was said by an expert to have mild autism and obsessive personality traits, told the court her mother had been in a bad state for an entire decade in the run-up to her death, eventually refusing to go upstairs, wash or change.

Defending, Clare Wade QC said Kurtz was sole carer for her father, who has 'extensive health needs'.

Addressing Judge Peter Ross after the verdict, she asked him to consider the impact of imprisonment on Kurtz as well as her father, as she said there was no one else available to care for him. 

But Judge Ross said he expected to hand Kurtz an immediate custodial sentence, though he ordered a pre-sentence report to help inform the length of imprisonment.

Addressing the defendant, he said: "I hope it's clear the fact I'm ordering a report is absolutely no indication as to the likely sentence."

Judge Ross, who told the court he was formerly director of the organisation now known as the Solicitors Regulation Authority, said Kurtz will likely be struck off as a solicitor. 

He thanked the jury for giving the case 'careful consideration', adding: "I've sat on the bench for 15 years and this was some of the toughest evidence I've had to listen to. 

"That's as a judge who has seen some distressing things.

"I saw the expressions on faces at the opening. I'm not sure what you thought you would be trying, but I doubt it was this.

"To say thank you might sound terribly easy, but I am grateful for the attention you have given this case."

Kurtz is due to be sentenced at the same court on April 27, and was granted unconditional bail in the meantime.