Veteran back home after support package agreed allowing him to leave care facility
A blind 98-year-old Second World War veteran who became embroiled in a High Court battle because he wanted to leave a care facility is back at home, a judge has been told.
Former Royal Navy gunner Douglas Meyers, who lives near Southend, told Mr Justice Hayden that he was unhappy in the care facility and wanted to end his life in the bungalow which was his home for 40 years.
Earlier this year Mr Justice Hayden decided that Mr Meyers, a widower who served in the Italian and north African theatres during the 1940s, might be able to return home.
The judge, who analysed evidence at a trial in the Family Division of the High Court in Southend, said the “ideal solution” would be for Mr Meyers to return home with a “suitable package of support”.
Social services bosses at Southend-on-Sea Borough Council have welfare responsibility for Mr Meyers and had asked the judge to make a decision about what was in the veteran’s best interests.
Lawyers representing the council told Mr Justice Hayden, at a follow-up hearing in London on Thursday, that Mr Meyers had returned home.
Barrister Katie Scott, who led the council’s legal team, gave the judge detail of care plans.
Mr Meyers, who had spoken to the judge at previous hearings, was not in court on Thursday.
Two lawyers, barrister Parishil Patel QC and solicitor Laura Hobey-Hamsher, who works for law firm Bindmans, represented the pensioner for free.
Mr Patel told Mr Justice Hayden that Mr Meyers, who recently turned 98, owned his home and therefore did not qualify for legal aid.
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