An inquest in the West Midlands has heard how a veteran of WWII was allegedly starved and tied to his bed at night during a 10-day stay at a nursing home just before he died.

The Daily Mail reports that 77-year-old Leslie Vines had retired from the building trade at the age of 60. His daughter, 56-year-old Hazel Bicknell, told the inquest at Sutton Coldfield that her father had suffered from some mental health problems after the death of his eight-year-old son.

Mrs Bicknell from Shirley in Solihull said that her father was admitted to the nursing home suffering from Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease.

He had been in hospital suffering from an infection for eight months prior to his admittance because his wife Josephine was unable to care for him. The couple had been married for 54 years and Mrs Vines had died six months after her husband’s death.

While in hospital, Mr Vines had been assessed as not needing much medication, said Mrs Bicknell. However, she noticed that in the nursing home he was taking a range of pills she did not recognise – and wondered if this was what had caused a sudden change she noticed in his condition.

'There never seemed to be any nurses or carers around – and patients seemed to be wandering around aimlessly with nobody to help them,’ Mrs Bicknell told the inquest.

'I believe my father was neglected and did not receive the care, treatment or medication for his conditions whilst under the care of Maypole Nursing Home.

'My mother never accepted my father's death and I believe that the strain of this contributed to her own death soon afterwards,’ she said.

She also recounted how she had watched ‘in horror’ as her elderly father was dragged by the back of his trousers to a chair, from which he could not move without help.

She added that, following her father's death, the same man who had dragged him by the trousers flippantly commented 'There goes another one' as she sat beside his body in his bedroom.

'I remember thinking at that time if that's how they treat and talk to the patients whilst their relatives are here what must they be like when they're not?' Mrs Bicknell told the inquest.

She alleged that on another occasion her father had been left ‘slumped’ on the floor in a corridor, where people could step over him. Although Mr Vines had always been continent, he was also made to wear what looked like nappies, as well as clothes belonging to other male patients.

'We normally visited at lunchtime every day to make sure that my father had at least one decent meal,’ said Mrs Bicknell. 'He appeared to be ravenous and on one occasion was grabbing handfuls of food – he'd never done this before and I believe he wasn't getting enough to eat.

'One day he was given a few bits of carrots and cabbage on a plate and that was supposed to be stew. They would not let him drink tea, they would only let him have watery squash, ‘she added.

She also told the inquest that he appeared to be losing weight ‘very quickly’ following his admission and he seemed ‘very lethargic’.

The cause of Mr Vines’ death was recorded as bronchial pneumonia. His body was cremated without a post-mortem examination having been carried out.

Under cross-examination, Mrs Bicknell told the inquest that she had never complained about her father’s treatment at the time because she had thought he would be ‘in safe hands’ – and had not had ‘sufficient time’ to assess the nursing home because Mr Vines had died so soon after arriving.

The inquest continues.

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