Parents Accused of Failing to Act as Son Died from Undiagnosed Diabetes
Two certified teachers who allegedly distrusted a Birmingham hospital "did nothing" as their 12-year-old son lay dying at home from undiagnosed diabetes, a court has been told. Damion Thomas, 48, and Tamara Thomas, 45, are on trial at Birmingham Crown Court facing charges of child cruelty and gross negligence manslaughter over the death of their homeschooled son Joshua.
Delayed Medical Response Following Early Morning Collapse
Jurors heard that Joshua collapsed in the early hours of the morning when he was too weak to reach the downstairs toilet and subsequently wet himself. Prosecutor Miranda Moore KC stated that the defendants should have immediately called for medical assistance following this 4am incident. However, the court was informed that Mr. Thomas proceeded to go to work later that morning, while his wife only summoned emergency help at 12.43pm after Joshua's condition deteriorated significantly.
By the time help arrived, Joshua's lips had turned white, foam was emerging from his mouth, and his breathing had become dangerously faint. The young boy tragically died in the early hours of the following day at Birmingham Children's Hospital. Medical examination revealed he had been suffering from untreated and undiagnosed Type 1 diabetes, which led to diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) - a life-threatening condition requiring urgent medical intervention.
Family History of Diabetes Should Have Raised Alarms
Ms. Moore emphasized that both parents should have recognized the warning signs of diabetes, particularly since the condition was "in the family" and Damion Thomas himself had Type 1 diabetes. The prosecutor told jurors: "The evidence shows he should have seen a doctor before his eventual collapse on December 9. He was asking for sweet drinks, he wasn't himself, he was lethargic, he had lost weight."
The court heard that both parents were aware of Joshua's symptoms at 4am when he wet himself on the landing and had to be changed and put back to bed, unable to walk downstairs. Ms. Moore stated: "Both parents knew the symptoms of diabetes. Mr. Thomas lived through it. Mrs. Thomas had seen her husband with it. At 4am they would have both recognised what he was exhibiting."
Hospital Distrust and Avoidance of Medical Intervention
Prosecutors revealed that the defendants did not trust Birmingham Children's Hospital and maintained an attitude of "avoiding medical intervention for their family." This alleged distrust contributed to their failure to seek timely medical assistance for their son. The couple, who have seven children in total, were both certified teachers but neither were "fully employed" at the time of Joshua's death in December 2022.
Damion Thomas had previously taught at Solihull Academy and held a safeguarding role but was on a pathway to returning to work when Joshua died. On the day of Joshua's collapse, he had gone to a campus at Castle Bromwich, Birmingham, to attend a meeting at 2pm while his son remained at home in the city's Kings Heath suburb.
Critical Hours of Inaction
Ms. Moore described the parents' response as fundamentally inadequate: "What did they do? In short, nothing. Damion goes off to work, makes no checks on his son. Despite the number of times Tamara rang him, he didn't answer the phone." The prosecutor added that Mrs. Thomas spoke with her husband on the phone and informed him Joshua was unresponsive moments before she called for an ambulance, yet Mr. Thomas later told police he was unaware of the situation until he returned home and saw paramedics.
The court heard that Joshua may have slipped into a coma as he lay on the sofa that morning while his mother believed he was simply asleep. Medical professionals at the children's hospital concluded that death had become "inevitable" for Joshua due to brain damage caused by cardiac arrest.
Parental Regret and Police Interviews
During proceedings, Ms. Moore revealed that Tamara Thomas expressed distress and regret that she didn't take Joshua to the hospital that morning instead of waiting for her husband to return home. In her police interview, Mrs. Thomas stated that Joshua had been unwell for approximately two weeks and awoke at 4am on December 9 looking "not right" and "wasn't himself."
She described how Joshua appeared to have normal fatigue at 10pm the previous night but acknowledged there had been a significant change by 4am. Mrs. Thomas told police she wasn't sufficiently worried to phone an ambulance immediately and didn't recognize what was wrong with her son. She eventually called 999 when Joshua's lips "turned white."
Father's Response Described as Obstructive
The prosecutor informed the court that Mr. Thomas was "obstructive" during his police interview, providing "blunt and quite bullish" answers. When questioned about whether he felt Joshua needed medical assistance at 4am, he reportedly responded: "I'm not a doctor."
Joshua was described as a "lively and energetic" boy who had joined Sparkhill Harriers running club in early 2022, where he was noted as "articulate, bright and fairly competitive." His parents had claimed he had been ill with cold-like symptoms for around two weeks prior to his collapse.
The couple, arrested approximately one month after Joshua's death, both deny offences of child cruelty and gross negligence manslaughter. The trial continues at Birmingham Crown Court.
