Elderly residents 'forced' to drink too much

The home owner forced residents to drink liquids

The owner of a care home where elderly residents were forced to drink excessive amounts of liquid has been given a 15-month suspended jail sentence.

Angela Postill, 43, from Clacton, Essex was "obsessed" with ensuring residents drank plenty of tea and other liquids.

Chelmsford Crown Court heard that care staff at Carnarvon Lodge Residential Care Home in Clacton were told to "push fluids" if residents were not drinking enough.

Syringes were used to put fluid in their mouths and one woman's wheelchair was tipped back to make it easier for her to drink, the court was told.

There's a suggestion that physical force was used by Mrs Postill on occasions

Stephen Coward QC

Postill, appearing at court for sentencing, had pleaded guilty to endangering the health of Eunice Fifield, 62, and Winifred Armstrong, 95, between November 1997 and October 1999.

Mrs Fifield died at the home in September 1999 and Mrs Armstrong the following month.

Bloated limbs

Postill was originally charged with murder, which was later reduced to manslaughter.

Mr Justice Leveson said the two manslaughter charges relating to the deaths of the two women, which Postill had denied at an earlier hearing, should continue to lie on file.

The prosecution had not alleged that she was "malicious or intentionally cruel", the judge said.

Stephen Coward QC, prosecuting, said: "For reasons best known to herself, she created a regime of effectively forcing some of the old people in her care to drink fluids to excess, thereby endangering their life or health.

"It's clear from some of the witness statements that there's a suggestion that physical force was used by Mrs Postill on occasions.

Heavy drinking

Postill and her husband bought Carnarvon Lodge Care Home in September 1997.

Mr Coward said deputy matron Maria Clover contacted Essex social services because she had seen residents vomiting, and some of them had bloated hands, faces and legs.

An expert witness in geriatric care said that giving elderly people too much liquid, especially with salt, could lead to them suffering fluid retention or heart failure, Mr Coward added.

Peter Feinberg QC, defending, said: "She believed firmly that what she was doing was right.

She knew that fluids were a vital part of the care of the elderly.

"The death of nobody can be laid at the door of Mrs Postill."

Postill had started drinking heavily since her arrest, he added.