6,000 Pages Of Evidence Due In Neglect Case

More than 6,000 pages of evidence have been put together in the case of four people charged with neglecting elderly residents at a Gloucester care home.

At a hearing at Gloucester Magistrates’ Court yesterday, a district judge was told how the allegations surrounding Newsham House, in Stroud Road, had created thousands of pages of exhibits and more than 400 witness statements.

At a previous hearing, the charges against the home for elderly people with mental health problems were said to include presence of mouldy faeces, unhygienic toilets and the lack of any stimulating activity for the patients.

The four defendants, who did not appear in court yesterday, are William Davies, the managing director of Yorkshire-based ADL Ltd, which owns the home; Pearl Jackson, its operations director; Newsham House manager Derek Youds; and the deputy manager, Heather Bolton.

Bolton, 56, of Westland Road, Hardwicke, previously indicated not guilty pleas to 10 charges relating to the ill-treatment or neglect of eight patients.

But Davies, Youds and Jackson have not indicated pleas to any of their charges.

Davies, 60, from Chippenham, faces 17 charges of neglect and four charges of ill treatment between July 8, 2003, and July 26, 2005.

Jackson, 49, from Wakefield, faces eight charges of neglect and two of ill-treatment, between May 2, 2004, and July 26, 2004.

Youds, 65, of Elmore Lane West, Quedgeley, who worked at the home, faces 10 charges of neglect and two of ill-treatment between July 8, 2003, and July 26, 2005.

ADL Ltd also faces nine charges of neglect and/or ill-treatment in its own right.

Crown prosecutor Mary Harley said the charges had come about after an extensive investigationof the old people’s home. As previously reported in The Citizen, a number of complaints were made about the inpatient care and an operation was launched between Gloucestershire Police and the Commission for Social Care Inspectorate.

Alex Bogustawski, defence solicitor for Bolton, Davies and Jackson, said there was a large volume of paperwork to be considered and therefore asked for the trial dates to be set for next year.

He said: “There is a large volume of paperwork including 6,000 pages of exhibits, over 400 witness statements, two CDs of photos and a videotape.

“With 52 separate counts, it is going to take an extensive amount of preparation.”

A three-day trial has therefore been set for February 18 to 20, with the defence to accept the committal to crown court by January 18.

All four defendants will remain on unconditional bail.