A court has heard how a former Bay of Plenty woman was left to rot and die in her own waste by her daughter.

Former Whakatāne woman Ena Lai Dung was found dead in her Manurewa, south Auckland, home on January 16 of last year.

Cindy Taylor, pictured in the dock in the High Court at Auckland, is charged with manslaughter and two charges of dishonestly claiming a pecuniary advantage. Photos: Peter Meecham/FAIRFAX NZ.

Her daughter Cindy Taylor has been charged with manslaughter and is accused of failing to care for her mother properly.

The Crown says this is a case of 'gross neglect” of an elderly woman who died a 'miserable death”.

Ena used to run a popular Chineese restaurant in Kopeopeo, Whakatāne, in the late 80s.

A family friend, who asked not to be named, says Ena was a beautiful and 'immaculately dressed” woman who was proud of her restaurant and always had a smile and a friendly greeting for her customers.

'She was a really lovely person who spoilt her daughter. It's just a shock to think she ended up this way. She was well respected in the community.”

The condition of the emaciated 76-year-old woman found dead in her own waste was the result of "extremely poor hygiene and nursing standards", forensic pathologist Fintan Garavan says.

Speaking from Florida in the US, Fintan says Ena's skin had been stained from urine and faeces.

A combination of malnutrition, waste contact and her lack of movement caused various pressure sores all over her body, and her skin was so brittle parts of it had torn or begun to slough off. There was also evidence of dead skin which gave off a gangrene smell, and her skin had been chemically burned from lying in urine, Fintan says.

The pathologist also noted ulcers on her foot and knee which formed as a result of contact with waste, as well as her skin being in constant contact with a surface for a long period of time.

Tests showed she was in the early stages of broncho-pneumonia - inflammation of the lungs.

Asked about the pain the sores would have caused Ena, Fintan says it is hard to say.

"But I think common sense needs to prevail. It's not rocket science. This is not a good thing to happen to your body," he says.

"Clearly [the sores] are going to have a detrimental effect."

Her condition was the result of "extremely poor hygiene and extremely poor nursing standards", he says.

He also observed that Ena had multiple healing fractures to her ribs and sternum - the most he had seen on one person in his line of work, he says.

It was not possible to date when the injuries might have happened, but it could have been weeks before she was found dead, Fintan says.

The broken bones had begun to heal themselves but would never have healed normally because of Ena's malnutrition.

He had not been given any information about the body when he began his examination but became so concerned about Ena's state that he contacted police.

"It was at that point I ... suggested they send some officers to attend the post-mortem," he says.

"To have so many broken ribs it's very painful and to have so many... it's going to interfere with your ability to breathe.

"You're going to be in a lot of pain. I'm struggling how she had so many broken ribs and didn't seem to get any attention for it."

The fractures could have been caused by several falls or one very heavy fall - or they could have been inflicted on Ena, he says.

Police say Cindy had been withdrawing her mother's superannuation payments and had failed to alert the Ministry of Social Development that her mother had died.

Luana Taylor is charged with failing to protect a vulnerable adult.

Married couple Brian and Luana Taylor, who were also living with Cindy and her mother, are also charged with failing to protect a vulnerable adult. All three have pleaded not guilty.

Yesterday, the jury heard Luana Taylor's claim that Ena owed her about half a million dollars.

The Crown played a video of an interview between police and Luana at the time of her arrest, in which she claimed she was owed the money but denied Cindy was dishonestly withdrawing funds.

"[Ena] owes me a lot of money, I ain't going to get it now," she says.

"How do you get money out of pension money, there's not a lot of it."

Cindy allegedly withdrew $1750 using Ena's Eftpos card after her mother's death.

Police say she had also been using the bank card of her uncle William who had died years earlier.

The Crown claimed Cindy dishonestly withdrew $37,000 from the pair's bank accounts in total.

However, records showed she had not deposited that amount into her own account.

Luana denied receiving money when asked by Detective Matthew Kay.

The trio is on trial in the High Court in Auckland.

Additional reporting from Stuff.

Brian Taylor is charged with failing to protect a vulnerable adult.