Care home owners deny corporate manslaughter charge over death of 93-year-old woman who suffered severe burns in bath
- Frances Norris died in hospital February 2015 after being severely burnt in bath
- Aster Healthcare, which ran, Birdsgrove Nursing Home, pleaded not guilty
- Charges allege that company caused her death by gross beach of duty of care
A healthcare firm has denied corporate manslaughter over the death of a 93-year-old woman who was severely burnt in a bath.
Frances Norris died in hospital in February 2015 following the incident at Birdsgrove Nursing Home in Bracknell, Berkshire.
The home’s director, Sheth Jeebun, 58, of Weybridge, Surrey, also denied arranging for false water temperature records to be created before police investigated.
During a Skype hearing at the Old Bailey today, a lawyer for Surrey-based Aster Healthcare, which ran the home, entered a not guilty plea to the charge of corporate manslaughter.
Frances Norris died in hospital in February 2015 after being severely burnt in a bath at Birdsgrove Nursing Home in Bracknell, Berkshire (pictured)
The charge states that on February 8, 2015, the company caused Ms Norris’s death by a gross breach of its duty of care by failing to adequately address failings in the hot water system.
The company also pleaded not guilty to a charge of failure to discharge a duty under the Health and Safety at Work Act.
It allegedly failed to ensure that persons not in its employment, including Ms Norris, were not exposed to risks to their health and safety, namely risks of injury from hot water.
Jeebun also denied failure to discharge a duty. He pleaded not guilty to doing acts tending and intended to pervert the course of justice after Ms Norris’s death.
It was alleged that he arranged, or sought to arrange, for thermostatic mixer valves (TMVs) to be fitted or adapted before regulators could complete checks on the hot water outlets.
He arranged for false water temperature records to be created and provided to police and other regulators, it was claimed.
The charge said he also arranged for a false record to be created of the servicing of TMVs at the home and for a false contract of servicing of TMVs to be provided to the Care Quality Commission and others.
A not-guilty plea also was indicated on behalf of carer Noel Maida, 48, of Hayes, west London, to a charge of failing to discharge a duty.
Mr Justice Edis said a provisional trial date in October was no longer realistic, given the backlog of cases due to the suspension of trials in the coronavirus lockdown.
He said: ‘It appears that the suspension of Crown Court trials is going to be continued for some time, with a gradual restart building up to full capacity over months. This case, because everybody is on bail, is unlikely to be top of that queue.’
The senior judge set a six-week trial date for January 18, 2021, with a review hearing on December 21.
Last month manager Elisabeth West, 45, director Sheth Jeebun, 58, and carer Noel Maida, 48, appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court charged with contravening a health and safety regulation.
Eran Cutliffe, prosecuting, said: ‘The corporate manslaughter charge can only be dealt with at the crown court. The remaining matters are intrinsically linked so they should all be tried together.’
Maia Cohen-Lask, defending, said: ‘We simply haven’t had enough time to get through the charges. It’s a complicated, serious case.
‘In respect of Ms West it is a single health and safety issue.’