Thug British cop mistreats frail elderly man

The frail elderly are treated like objects by official Britain

A frail 84-year-old Alzheimer's sufferer was put in handcuffs because a policeman "feared for his own safety". Alan Bailey became confused and frightened when health workers made a decision, without his family present, to put him in hospital.
Terrified and alone, he was then strapped into a stretcher and handcuffed.

The degrading treatment was yesterday described by his family and experts as 'inhumane' and 'unforgivable' and they say the stress of the incident may even have contributed to his death the following month.

At Mr Bailey's inquest on Monday, coroner John Pollard attacked PC Alan Twentyman for his heavy-handed approach, telling him: 'This is totally ridiculous, officer, it beggars belief. Mr Bailey was an elderly, frail and frightened man with little understanding of the world around him and what would happen to him.'

The nightmare for the retired design engineer began in March last year at his home in Cheadle Hulme, Greater Manchester. At the time, Mr Bailey's wife, Mary, was in a care home and he lived alone. She has now died.

Mr Bailey received regular care from local health workers but they decided his condition had deteriorated to the point where he needed to be sectioned [sent to a mental hospital]

His daughter, Sandra Coombes, 52, a local trading standards officer, had been due to accompany her father to hospital but the meeting was moved forward by 24 hours and Mrs Coombes was unable to attend.

Health workers went ahead with their decision to send Mr Bailey to hospital without Mrs Coombes present. Instead, he was left in the hands of medical staff he did not know increasing his fear and agitation. Once inside the back of the ambulance he was strapped to a stretcher causing him more distress.

As Mr Bailey attempted to free himself, the officer on board handcuffed him claiming he feared for his safety, the medical staff on board and members of the public.

Mr Bailey was taken to Tameside General, Manchester, on March 3 last year where he stayed for six days before being transferred to the Meadows Hospital in Stockport where he suffered a fall. He eventually died in April last year.

An inquest was required because he fell at the hospital.

At the inquest, Mr Pollard added the decisioon to section Mr Bailey without his daughter, Sandra Coombes, being present was 'ill considered'. He said he would write to the chief constable over the training of officers in dealing with mental health patients, in particular in the use of handcuffs.

Speaking after the inquest at Stockport Coroners court where a verdict of accidental death was recorded, Mr Bailey's daugter said the way in which her father was treated was 'deplorable'.

Mrs Coombes said:'I believe his death was partly down to the stress of what happened. Not only the excessive use of force, but to send a policeman to accompany him was unbelievable.

'When I went to see him in hospital he was black and blue. I couldn't believe the state of him and he couldn't tell me what had happened. He was approaching 85 and only weighed around seven stone.

'I'm really angry about the whole situation. The manner in which the mental health workers and the police came in showed no consideration for him or me. 'They kept saying it was for his own well-being but they caused him so much distress and anxiety by removing him from his home of 62 years.'

Mrs Coombes said: 'There was no need to handcuff him. My dad was so frail. Why on earth did they handcuff him? To send a policeman to accompany him was unbelievable. 'The way my father was treated was inhumane and I will stand by that for the rest of my life. It's been deplorable from the minute the mental health people started dealing with my dad. I will never ever forgive them for what happened.'

Detective Chief Inspector Koran Sellars, of Greater Manchester Police, said: 'Handcuffs were used to prevent Mr Bailey harming himself, the police officer, medical staff in the ambulance and members of the public on the road.

'Due to Mr Bailey's demeanour and age, attempts at physically restraining him may have led to Mr Bailey sustaining serious injuries, therefore handcuffs were deemed the safest and most reasonable option in the circumstances.'

But yesterday Sir Peter Fahy, Chief Constable of the force, admitted a police officer should never have been present to restrain Mr Bailey describing what happened as 'inappropriate.'

Ian Weatherhead, of Dementia UK, said: 'The moving forward of a meeting by health workers which in effect excluded Mr Bailey's daughter would suggest this was a serious contributing factor to the appalling treatment he was subjected to. Family members need to be involved and listened to at all times.

'The tragic story regarding Mr Bailey and his family shows that there is still continuing widespread lack of education and understanding around dementia. 'It also highlights a number of mistakes, not just in the totally inappropriate handcuffing by the police.'

Joyce Robins, of Patient Concern, said: 'This is absolutely disgraceful. I can't imagine how this happened. 'People with Alzheimer's need calming down and they need to have people they know around them. I can't understand why they didn't wait for the daughter to get home. Anybody would have got into a panic if they were suddenly handcuffed, least of all someone with Alzheimer's.'

Henry Ticehurst, medical director for Pennine Care said: 'Arrangements were in place to assess Mr Bailey with his daughter present but due to a rapid deterioration in his health, the assessment was conducted earlier to prevent further harm.

'The Meadows is a specialist mental health unit providing care and treatment for older people suffering with mental health issues and as such, was an appropriate place for Mr Bailey to receive the care he needed.'

Earlier this year police were condemned after they fired tasers at terrified Alzheimer's sufferer, Peter Russell, 58, who struggled when he was being taken to hospital.

Six officers were called and to his Lincolnshire home and he was shot with several taser stun rounds, before being manhandled to the floor.

Original report here




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