A DOCTOR who cared for a mentally ill woman who later 'died from neglect at the hands of her family' was ‘blocked’ from checking up on her, a court heard.

Emma-Jane Kurtz, of Blackwater Way, Didcot, denies one count of wilful neglect against her mother Cecily.

Oxford Crown Court heard, as the 41-year old’s trial continued yesterday, that efforts to continue offering treatment for Kurtz’s mother were fruitless.

Taking to the witness box Dr Alyson Lee, who practised at Didcot’s Oak Tree Health Centre between 1999 and 2010, told jurors she had made efforts to liaise with the family.

She said after an apparent ‘radio silence’ in 2004: “Even though I had written to Cecily I never heard back from either Cecily or her family.”

She added that she had communicated with her daughter and Cecily’s husband, Alan Kurtz, who will not stand trial for the offence due to ill health, and that they ‘understood’ that her mother needed care.

She said: “You are dealing with a very intelligent daughter and a very intelligent father and if somebody is not eating or drinking I think its fairly clear that that could head into a crisis.

“Rightly or wrongly I trusted the family to contact us if things were getting worse. Hindsight is a wonderful thing.”

Earlier in the trial Oliver Saxby QC, prosecuting, told jurors that the extent of the neglect ‘beggared belief’ and that when she was discovered by paramedics at the home address on July 2, 2014, her corpse was in an ‘emaciated’ state.

Kurtz, a qualified solicitor whose specialities include ‘elder abuse’ , denies the charge.

The trial continues.