Police Not Guilty of assault of elderly care home resident

[Nanny0gg]

The police that tasered the 92 year-old amputee in the nursing home have been found not guilty of assault!

What on earth? What does constitute assault then?

I'm appalled by this judgement

They could have turned around closed the door and walked away if they were that scared. He clearly doesn’t understand what he is doing wrong, imagine living in a world where you survive the Nazis just to get treated like this. The two officers in the video are both complete scum!! Probably at home celebrating tonight, it’s shameful.

He was delirious and confused with a urine infection, hence he didnt

He was 92 years old. He was an amputee in a wheelchair. He was peppersprayed and hit with a baton before being tasered. Because he had a butter knife. He also was confirmed to have an undiagnosed UTI.

How would you feel if this was your grandparent/parent?!

He died in hospital a couple weeks later.

Does anyone know which home this was? I would love to read the CQC reports for it.

Why?

Park Beck Care Home, Upper Maze Hill, St Leonards.

Thank you!

This is part of the report from August 2023. Italics mine.

Safe – this means we looked for evidence that people were protected from abuse and avoidable harm.
At our last inspection we rated this key question good. At this inspection the rating has changed to requires
improvement.
This meant some aspects of the service were not always safe and there was limited assurance about safety.
There was an increased risk that people could be harmed.
Assessing risk, safety monitoring and management
● Risks to people were not always safely managed. We saw one person being moved in a wheelchair with only one foot plate on and the person having difficulty keeping their feet on the plate. The person was then
sat at a table and left on their own. Staff had not put the person's foot plate down so the person was at risk
of receiving an injury from the foot plate or tipping the wheelchair if they tried to stand.
● Staff were not supporting people safely following a fall. Staff had recorded that a handling belt had been
used to pull someone up from the floor. This method was described to us by a staff member. This put people
and staff at risk of injury. There was no information within the person's care plan about how to manage the
person following a fall. Guidance in the falls policy stated staff would identify mechanisms to assist the
person from the floor. There was no information about how the decision to use a handling belt had been
made.
● There was a lack of information about how to support a person to manage their catheter. Staff gave us conflicting information about the support given. This left the person at risk of receiving support that was unsafe or inappropriate.
● On occasions some people expressed distress and anxiety. There was no guidance for staff to follow to support people during these times. Although staff told us what actions they would take this did not ensure
people received consistent support.
● People were not always protected from the risk of pressure damage. There was no information to ensure
people's air mattresses were on the correct setting. Whilst some mattresses adjusted automatically to the person's weight one person had an airflow mattress that should have been set to their weight. The person's most recent recorded weight did not match the setting the mattress was on. There was no information in care plans about the correct mattress settings.
Risks to people's health and safety had not been assessed and action had not been taken to mitigate any
such risks. This is a breach of regulation 12 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities)
Regulations 2014.
● Following the inspection the provider told us care plans for people with catheters and those expressing
distress and anxiety were updated to ensure staff had the information they needed to support people safely.
● Risks to people from the environment were assessed and measures put into place to protect people.
Equipment was used appropriately to support people who were at risk of falls. For example, some people
had bed rails or crash mats and a lowered bed. These decisions had been assessed as the least restrictive and safest option for people.
Systems and processes to safeguard people from the risk of abuse; Learning lessons when things go wrong
● Safeguarding concerns had not always been identified and referred to the local authority safeguarding
team appropriately or in a timely way. Incidents and concerns reported to the registered manager had not
always been identified as safeguarding concerns or acted on in a timely or appropriate way. For example, 3 allegations of abuse had not been reported. Although systems were in place to ensure people were
protected from the risk of harm from abuse or discrimination these processes had not always been followed
at that time.
● When these concerns had been identified, the provider took the appropriate measures to ensure
investigations, analysis and referrals to safeguarding were made and measures put into place to minimise
risks to people. This also helped to ensure lessons had been learnt from the incidents that had occurred and
help prevent a reoccurrence.
● Staff had received information about reporting concerns during staff meetings and further training was
planned. Staff told us what actions they would take if they were concerned people were at risk of harm
through abuse or discrimination.

Predictable outcome though I very much disagree with it. I came across this case a couple days ago by chance-was looking up the similar case in Australia where a 95 year old woman who used a walker in a care home had a knife and was tasered by a cop. She died. Cop got off with a community order or something, although I think he was found guilty. Whilst looking that up I came across this case, couldn't believe it happened again! It's very hard to put a cop away. Disgusts me.

Mr Burgess was not diagnosed with dementia, but he was delirious at the time due to a UTI. Mr Burgess was accused of flicking food at a care worker, prodding her in the abdomen with a knife and telling staff he would "take pleasure" in murdering them, which led to him being taken back to his room where staff attempted to pacify him before resorting to calling 999. Police officers responded under a grade one call - the highest level.

PC Smith denied emptying a full can of Pava in Mr Burgess's face, saying it was "a short burst". He denied hitting Mr Burgess with a baton, claiming he instead flicked the baton trying to "knock the knife out" of his hand. PC Comotto said she believed using the Taser was the safest way to "protect" Mr Burgess as she feared her colleague using the baton again would cause greater harm.

An assault conviction requires "unlawful violence". If the violence is used in lawful self-defense or in defense of another person, it is not considered unlawful.

A butter knife and was not physically capable of actually attacking them

Be serious. A 92 yo amputee with a butter knife? What harm do you actually think he could do?

Not by 92 yo amputees they havent

He was as much threat as an overtired toddler in a high chair holding a Mothercare fork. Angry toddlers poke caregivers with cutlery, but there's no necessity to tase them for it.

Exactly this.

He was hardly about to go on a stabbing rampage with a butter knife. Complete and utter overreaction.

An adapted butter knife. Hardly a machete🤣🤣 amputee. In wheelchair

what exactly do you think he could do??

How violent do you really think a 92 year old amputee could be?? Seriously??

Yes , likely he would have just dozed off?
1 minute and 23 seconds they gave him to comply with their orders. They evidently lack the patience and maturity for this type of work. To try and put it kindly.

Stabbed them? With a butter knife? 🤣🤣

HNRTFT but as a RN in a care home this would never have happened! Old people can become tricky with UTI etc and be aggressive etc . We monitor,observe and ensure they are safe and all other residents.Ensure that they don’t have access to anything that will harm them or cause harm to others.
Am astounded that the police were called ,and shocked that the nurse in charge didn’t give a proper explanation to the police about the guys disabilities. All beyond my comprehension TBH

Words fail me

Nope, he had jabbed one, he might as well have used a spoon!

An amputee - not difficult to calculate how much of a threat he was.

If it was only a butter knife and the man presented no danger, why were the police called in the first place?

PC Smith says he merely flicked the baton to try to get the patient to drop the knife. But PC Comotto says she tasered Mr Burgess to save him from her colleague's repeated use of the baton. Bit of a contradiction. To say nothing of the pepper spray. Talk about overkill.