THREE care home workers have been cleared of ill-treating an elderly woman.
But the son of Violet Smith, the Alzheimer’s patient who suffered severe burns after being left on a commode filled with hot water, says he will be haunted forever by his mother’s screams of pain.
The Batley nursing home where she was staying has now accepted it was at fault for what happened.
The news comes as nurse Andrea Jarrett-Garrick of Bevor Crescent, Heckmondwike, and care assistants Danielle Schofield, of Thornton Road, Dewsbury, and Julie Atkinson, of Doubting Road, Dewsbury, were cleared of wilfully neglecting Violet, after Judge Marson QC directed the jury to return a verdict of not guilty.
All three worked together at Carlinghow, in Batley, a specialist care home for elderly people with dementia run by Charlton Care Ltd of Edgware, Middlesex.
During the seven-day trial at Leeds Crown Court the jury heard how in January 2008 the 87-year old grandmother from Heckmondwike had to undergo significant skin grafts at Pinderfields Hospital, Wakefield. She died two months later following a chest infection.
Its insurers have now accepted liability as part of a civil claim being brought by legal experts at Irwin Mitchell on behalf of Violet’s son Rodney Smith.
Mr Smith said: “What my mother had to go through was horrific – made all the worse by the fact that no one could explain to her why she was in such pain.
“Her Alzheimer’s meant she had no idea what had happened to her and of course meant she could not tell us.
“She screamed the place down in agony every time her dressing was changed in hospital or she had to be moved.
“It was so very distressing for both of us and it’s a five week experience that will haunt me forever.”
The family’s solicitor, clinical negligence specialist Rachelle Mahapatra at Irwin Mitchell’s Leeds office added: “Despite the verdict, it is clear that the care home was at fault and they have now admitted liability for Violet’s injuries.
“Violet’s family will now be forced to turn to the civil courts to seek justice for Violet. This claim will never compensate for what happened to Violet but may bring the family a certain level of closure for the horrific injuries she suffered during her stay at the home.”
Mr Smith added: “My mother was burnt after being sat on a commode of hot water from a kettle but I was originally told that it was because she had burst a hot water bottle. After fracturing her hip she had not walked for seven years so they must have just left her sitting on the commode.
“It broke my heart to see her in such a state. I just wanted her to end her days peacefully, not after weeks of suffering.
“She was a fighter – the consultant told us that normally under these circumstances a person of her age and frailty would not survive this kind of trauma. I feel that if she had not had to use up all her reserves of energy fighting the burns she may have had the energy to fight off her chest infection.”
