William Pottinger
This is 71-year-old William Pottinger.
William Pottinger is newly widowed, receives a monthly pension and likes betting and beer.
William Pottinger dislikes prison and feeding people, especially his wife.
On the 27th of March, 2008, William Pottinger started serving an 18-month prison sentence. During the trial, Judge Christopher Tyrer, the presiding judge in the case, described William Pottinger’s case as “horrific” and expressed his amazement that a case such as Mr. Pottinger’s could have happened in this day and age.
Obviously, the judge doesn’t read People You’ll See In Hell.
Perhaps People You’ll See In Hell should be required reading for those in public service?
Up until June of 2006, William Pottinger and his wife, Gillian Pottinger, lived together with William’s brother-in-law Andrew Flory.
William Pottinger, who has been described as psychologically unusual, watched his wife live with a condition known as Senile Squalor Syndrome, or Diogenes Syndrome. Essentially, people with that syndrome are usually elderly, have some kind of senility going on and really don’t take care of themselves.
Gillian Pottinger is believed to have started down that path in 2000, although some people believe she may have been dealing with the syndrome since the 1960′s, because her son reportedly had problems with bringing friends home after school as he was growing up.
Gillian Pottinger’s condition gradually worsened, developing into something life-threatening in 2003 when she got to the point where she either didn’t want to or was unable to leave the couch.
She could still scream, however. On two different occasions, neighbors heard Gillian Pottinger screaming and called social services. When social services arrived to see what the problem was, they were turned away with vague noises about everything being fine.
Everything really wasn’t fine.
William Pottinger’s wife problems stopped one day in June of 2006 when he came home after a night of drinking and found his wife had died while he was gone.
William Pottinger was arrested and charged with manslaughter.
According to medical experts who offered testimony, exactly why Gillian Pottinger had been allowed to deteriorate to such an extent was…unclear.
During the trial, the judge offered a decent summary of what Gillian Pottinger went through during the months that it took her to die and the callousness of her husband’s behavior:
She totally lost the ability to look after herself and she lay on a sofa and wasted away. Your wife’s suffering must have lasted months. Her death was in squalid and degrading circumstances and the distress she suffered in the months before her death does not bear thinking about. At any stage in the final months, you could have called for help, but you did not. From the outside world you continued your life as if nothing was wrong. You lived alongside her day by day. You must have realized she was utterly incapable of doing anything for herself.
Well said, Judge Christopher Tyrer. Well said.
Does William Pottinger deserve Hell?
- Yes (72%, 138 Votes)
- No - he's just a confused old man (28%, 53 Votes)
Total Voters: 191
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22 Comments »
Billy boy is an idiot, Michael Schivao is brilliant/ If you want to kill someone that’s as useful as a houseplant, the proper authorities must be notofied of your dear vegtable’s condition, then you must get the green light from the authorities before letting a formerly loved one die of neglect!
Both are definately horrible, with this one being slightly worse in the simple fact that the suffering was much longer and maybe more intense as this guy may have been too cheap or uncaring as to alievate any of the suffering.
then again Terry had some supervision….
wow Fred, you’re quite the cynic (you’re right though)
Thank you.
Wait, I don’t get this part:
Up until June of 2006, William Pottinger and his wife, Gillian Pottinger, lived together with William’s brother-in-law Andrew Flory.
- Ok, what the hell happened to Andrew?
Why didn’t he speak out to someone about William and Gill?
And if William has been described as “psychologically unusual”, why was he watching over his poor wife? This didn’t have to happen – really.
Where the hell was her brother?? It was his house! Did he not see his sister sitting in her own filth on a couch, slowly dying????? Her husband was wrong, but why was no one else able to save her? SUSPICION thy name is TRACY!
I just spent the last month watching my mother die. Even with care and medication, it was one of the most horrifying things I’ve ever seen. I can’t fathom watching someone slowly deteriorate and suffer without doing something about it. Maybe I’m just overly sensitive right now, but this guy is just cruel. Hope he can die alone with no help. Course, that ain’t gonna happen in prison. Pity.
You’re right. My mother is 68 years old, and into politics. I’ve told her that if she gets arrested when she is sick, that I will tell the judge to leave her in prison because she will have more rights to better healthcare than if she were in a nursing home. My mother is somewhat eager to make the headlines should she become ill!
Wow. That’s some real ’til death do us part’ kind of love.
c
Ugh.
I remember watching my wife’s grandmother pass. She was hooked to oxygen and had requested not to be on any life support. We all stood around her bed after the nurse pulled the tube from her mouth, and watched her slowly suffocate. it took about 30 minutes.
It was so horrible.
To watch someone take months? Oh my god!
I’d like to lock this POS in an outhouse for a week or 10 days. Hot sun for a few hours a day a must. Give this POS 1 water bottle / day. Then on the 10th day, push the outhouse over a hill – my yard has a nice cliff, hill then a retaining wall. Then a day or so later drag the outhouse to the river upright. The tides vary by 3 or 4 feet in back. a day or two later during low tide, tip the outhouse and let the tides finish him off.
Before he goes into the outhouse, I get to pee on him. I will make sure I drink plenty of liquids so that he gets a steady stream of my urine. Then you can proceed to locking him in the outhouse. Thanks Fred.
Thank you Fred and TurtleMania!
I’ve had a shitty day, and you made it better.
Keys in hand. Should I go out and get shitfaced again tonight, or should I stay home and feed my starving invalid wife?
Duh. Shitfaced trumps starving invalid wife every time.
c
as a capitalist, i don;t see the problem. the wife should have got a job. why do these people alwys want help? go out and help yourself you lazy good for nothing woman.
Your a dick…. what a dummy… Read the WHOLE article before your comment becomes an ignorant one… She was sick asshole. She couldn’t move.
Hey there Tina, it’s nice to have you here with us tonight. Some of your comments are pretty funny, but there are a couple, like this one, that beg me to offer you a minor bit of advice: Google the words “Sarcasm” & “Irony”. I think this will be a huge help to you should you choose to stick around. Anyways, that’s just my $0.02.
Heya there Jim Bob. Are you by chance from West Virginia?
(Still not visiting West Virginia in a hurry.)
You are by far ONE OF the biggest morons ive encountered on this site.
How does someone who is SENILE go about getting a job? Fucking IDIOT!!
Oh yeah…that was sarcasm…Will definately read Max The Cats $0.02 before i make an ass outta myself next time.
LOL – my sarcasm-o-meter didn’t register on jim bob’s post at first, either.
Sarcasm is a delicate skill – one which many people don’t quite grasp. So instead of being amusing, they end up sounding mean or stupid.
In retrospect though, I think jim bob may have been joking.
Where were their kids? Even if you don’t live near them, don’ tyou still call your parents and check in???
18 months?? That is it? I think the kids should do time too! Between all of them, it sounds like they all timeshare a single brain cell!
Would this be based on the “fact” that everyone keeps in contact with their parents. Would this be based on the “fact” that everone grew up with parents that showed them love, kindness and didn’t abuse them in any number of ways.
Oh what a perfect world you must live in.
“Perhaps People You’ll See In Hell should be required reading for those in public service?” HERE HERE!!!
How could policemen who have been called because a woman scream leave after not checking in on said woman. One day my son was watching cartoons while I was dozing on the sofa because I had the flu and was doped up on medication and he somehow got the phone and managed to call 911. I had the policemen come to my door and they insisted on looking all around my house to ensure that everyone was okay and that yes it was just a prank call. The policeman also looked at me like I was the worst mother in the world and reminded me to pay better attention. I felt like crap but at least they didn’t just take my word that there was nothing wrong in the house and actually investigated.