A man who failed to alert the emergency services after his 66-year-old partner suffered serious injuries in a fall downstairs has been jailed for a year for manslaughter.
Lawson Lewis stepped over Christine Williams when he found her at the bottom of the stairs before he went to work at 8am and she was in the same position when he returned ten hours later, Wolverhampton Crown Court heard.
It was another three hours before he finally dialled 999 after Mrs Williams's daughter Lorraine got in touch to inquire about her health.
Judge Frank Chapman told Lewis: "This was a pig headed and stupid thing to do and as a result she lost her life."
Robert Juckes QC, prosecuting, said: "If he had acted immediately she would have survived."
He said Mrs Williams, who was popular in the Rubery area, had drunk at a family party the previous evening.
She had toppled downstairs during the night and suffered a serious skull fracture, six broken ribs and a punctured lung which collapsed.
"He is at a complete loss to understand how he could have been so stupid," said Stephen Linehan QC, defending.
"What now seems so obvious was then hidden from him. Everything points to the conclusion he just did not appreciate the risk."
The judge told 61-year-old Lewis, who lived with Mrs Williams in St Chad's Road, Rubery, "Your conduct in going to work is surprising. Your cold indifference is unexplained.
"When you returned she was still on the floor and it must have been obvious she was hurt. You were in breach of your duty to care for her."
After the case, Mrs Williams' son Jason welcomed the prison term and said: "It is his fault my mother is dead. I would have liked to have seen a longer sentence passed but the important thing is he is now in jail."
