Hospital sexual assault victim 'unlawfully killed'

Valerie Kneale died at Blackpool Victoria Hospital four days after she was admitted following a stroke

A "wonderful" grandmother who was subjected to a violent sexual assault while in hospital after suffering a stroke was unlawfully killed, a coroner has concluded.

Valerie Kneale, 75 and from Poulton-le-Fylde in Lancashire, spent four days at Blackpool Victoria Hospital before her death on 16 November 2018.

Despite staff noticing extensive bleeding after Mrs Kneale's death, suspicions were not immediately raised. This meant vital evidence was lost, and her attacker has never been identified.

Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said it was "committed to learning" from what had happened and had already started to make improvements since Mrs Kneale's death.

Alan Wilson, coroner for Blackpool and Fylde, said at the conclusion of her four-day inquest: "For someone to assault a vulnerable, relatively elderly woman in a hospital setting is really quite difficult to believe."

Mrs Kneale had been taken to hospital on 12 November after suffering a stroke.

The inquest heard the retired clerical assistant had been "chatty", lucid and did not appear agitated when her family left later that day, shortly before midnight.

However, her relatives were called back to the hospital the following morning after staff noticed Mrs Kneale's condition had deteriorated. They attributed this to the stroke.

She was placed on end-of-life care and her family stayed at her bedside for the next three days until she died.

Blackpool Victoria Hospital staff failed to escalate concerns after noticing that Valerie Kneale was bleeding heavily after her death

The inquest heard the true circumstances of her death only emerged two-and-a-half weeks later during a post-mortem examination.

It was only carried out thanks to an unrelated police investigation into mistreatment and neglect on the hospital's stroke unit.

It found she died due to a "forcible sexual assault" inflicted during her stay at Blackpool Victoria Hospital.

Experts calculated the 75-year-old's injuries had been inflicted at least two days before she died.

Lancashire Police launched a murder investigation after three healthcare assistants said they had seen an "extensive and significant" pool of blood, which had soaked through a mattress, shortly after Mrs Kneale's death.

None of them raised concerns at the time, though.

Det Ch Insp Jill Riley, who led the police investigation but has since retired, told the inquest that the omission resulted in a "significant delay" in securing and preserving critical evidence.

She said Mrs Kneale's room had been cleaned and used by other patients, while her clothing had been disposed of and CCTV footage had been over-run and deleted.

'Particularly horrific'

Media appeals for information on Mrs Kneale's death included a £20,000 reward from the charity Crimestoppers, but the investigation was scaled back earlier this year after no new evidence came to light.

Coroner Mr Wilson said Mrs Kneale's "particularly horrific" death was the result of "unlawful act manslaughter".

He said after the extensive bleeding was spotted it should have been "obvious" that the incident was concerning and should have been escalated to medics, senior management, police and the coroner.

"Ultimately the most significant aspect of how the post-death events were handled was that they resulted in the potential loss of evidence," Mr Wilson added.

In a statement issued following the inquest's conclusion, Mrs Kneale's family said they had left her in a "safe environment" and were told staff would "look after our mum".

"That obviously didn't happen," they said.

"Valerie was a wonderful mother, grandmother, sister, aunt, and most of all our friend.

"She lovingly looked after and cared for all her family. She was our main source of support and encouragement throughout our lives.

"The years since November 2018 have been a constant torture for all of us. The thought and now the evidence of the attack and the suffering she endured is crippling."

Maggie Oldham, chief executive at Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said: "I wish to assure Mrs Kneale's family, patients, and staff that the Trust has already implemented improvements since the tragic death of Mrs Kneale in 2018.

"The Trust is committed to learning and will now carefully consider all of the evidence heard at the inquest and the coroner's findings, and make any further improvements, as necessary."

A spokesman for Lancashire Constabulary said Mrs Kneale's case would be "regularly reviewed" by cold case detectives in the major crime review team.