Pensioner strangled to death after being left strapped in wheelchair overnight in care home

A pensioner was found strangled by her wheelchair's lap belt after staff at her Bupa care home failed to put her to bed for the night, an inquest heard today.

Brigid O'Callaghan, 74, had been admitted for a week's respite care to give her daughter Ann, the widow's full-time carer, a break.

But on her second night she was left in her wheelchair and slipped down the seat, meaning the lap belt became entangled around her neck, the court heard.

A housekeeper discovered the pensioner's body the following morning when she went in to clean her room at the Amberley Court Nursing Home in Edgbaston, Birmingham.

Mrs O'Callaghan - known to friends as Vera - was still wearing her clothes from the previous night, with her panic button out of reach.

The widow, whose husband died in 1981, had been in poor health since she was knocked down on a pedestrian crossing in February 2003. The accident left her with serious injuries, including brain damage, incontinence and a fractured pelvis.

She spent 11 months in hospital and when she was finally sent home, the pensioner - a mother of five and grandmother of two - was left in a wheelchair and unable to care for herself.

Her daughter moved in to look after her.

In July 2005, Mrs O'Callaghan, from Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands, was admitted to Amberley Court for a week to enable her family to take a short holiday.

Her stay went well and it was arranged for her to stay for a second week three months later. Her daughter told the jury she had planned to visit her mother two days into this second stay. But that morning, the manager called her to say her mother had died.

Miss O'Callaghan and her uncle went to the home and were met by two policemen outside the pensioner's room.

"They said I could not enter," she said. "I was hysterical by then. I was told she had been found in her wheelchair with the strap around her neck.

"It became pretty clear that she had not been put to bed at all that night and had been left in her wheelchair."

A member of staff was later arrested and questioned but no charges have been brought. Home Office pathologist Professor Helen Whitwell told the inquest Mrs O'Callaghan died of asphyxia after she was strangled by the strap of the seatbelt.

There was no evidence of anyone else being involved.

Janet Sweeney, the housekeeper who found Mrs O'Callaghan's body, said she was in the middle of her room.

"The wheelchair was tipped up and she had the strap across her neck," she told the jury. "Her legs were spread on the floor.

"I went over to her and touched her right hand. She was really cold so I went and pressed the emergency buzzer."

At the time of the death the home catered for 28 residents in ensuite rooms. Fees varied according to the room and level of care.

The inquest, which is being held in Birmingham, continues.