Three plead guilty over woman's care home fall death

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) said the care home did not report the fall to a regulatory body for nine days

Three nursing home workers have pleaded guilty to offences after an 84-year-old woman fell from a wheelchair and broke her leg.

Shirley Froggett died of pneumonia in November 2018 at the New Lodge Nursing Home in Mickleover, Derby, after suffering a broken femur in the fall weeks earlier.

Mrs Froggett's wheelchair did not have a functioning lap belt when she fell.

On Tuesday at Derby Crown Court, nurse Amar Muneer, 47, admitted wilful neglect, and carers Nakeeba Akhtar, 33, and Prabina Thapa, 37, admitted perverting the course of justice by making false statements.

New Lodge Nursing Care Limited in Derby was fined £30,000 in 2022

During the hearing, Muneer, of Blackpool Street, Burton-upon-Trent, Staffordshire, admitted wilful neglect by a care worker between 18 September and 21 September 2018.

Akhtar, of St Chads Road, Stoke-on-Trent, and Thapa, of Bartley Wilson Way, Cardiff, both admitted perverting the course of justice by making false statements between 18 September and 5 December 2018.

The defendants are not alleged to have caused Mrs Froggett's death.

They will be sentenced on 6 February and have been granted unconditional bail.

Elaine Froggett, Mrs Froggett's daughter-in-law, said hearing the guilty pleas was an "enormous relief"

Following the hearing, Det Con Natalie Barnett, of Derbyshire Police, read a statement outside the court on behalf of Elaine Froggett.

The statement said: "After seven long years, the conclusion today means that finally justice has been served.

"To hear the guilty pleas was an enormous relief.

"On behalf of the family, finally, we have the closure we deserve. Shirley died in horrendous circumstances. May her soul now rest in peace.

"The people responsible now have their own conscience to deal with.

"Finally, I would like to say if you have a loved one in care, stay vigilant and speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves."

Care home manager Lindsey Foster, 43, of St John's Road, Stoke-on-Trent, pleaded guilty to perverting the course of justice at a previous court hearing.

In 2022, New Lodge Nursing Care Limited was fined £30,000 for failing to provide safe care and treatment to a resident, resulting in her being exposed to a significant risk of avoidable harm.

It was also ordered to pay a £170 victim surcharge and a contribution to prosecution costs of £7,500 to the CQC.

Foster was also ordered to pay a fine of £800, a contribution to prosecution costs of £105.22 and a victim surcharge of £80, all in 2022.