A 72-year-old grandmother died 13 days after being attacked at a care home.
Maureen Shone, 72, was found by staff on the floor of her bedroom in Trentham, Staffordshire after being brutally assaulted by a male patient.
Staff found the attacker near Mrs Shone’s room covered in blood. A metal curtain pole had been used in the attack.
A sensor placed under Mrs Shone’s mattress to alert staff if she got out of bed had not been switched on by staff that night.
What Happened That Night
The two-day inquest into Mrs Shone’s death heard she had been put to bed early. But staff found her lying on the floor two hours later after hearing a banging noise coming from the room.
Rebecca Gittings, the manager of the unit where Mrs Shone was staying, said: “I was walking up the corridor to give another patient some medicine when I heard a faint banging noise coming from Maureen’s room. I went in to check if everything was all right and once I got inside I saw that her room was completely trashed.
“There were pictures all over the floor, her bedding was everywhere and the curtains had been pulled down. Maureen was banging her head on the floor.”
The Aftermath
Care assistant Azyeb Haile ran to Mrs Gittings after hearing her shout for assistance.
Miss Haile said: “I saw Maureen, she was lying on the floor. There was blood everywhere. Her room was messy and there were things broken on the floor. The curtain pole was pulled down and had blood on it. I went out of the room and saw a male patient standing outside.
“I checked him over and saw that his hands, trousers and shoes were covered in blood. There was nobody else around so I spoke to the man and asked him what he had done but he was shouting about his wife.”
📊 The Coroner’s Findings: Post mortem results recorded that Mrs Shone died of pneumonia, aggravated by dementia and blunt force trauma.
