Court action over missing pensioner

Social services are worried about Mrs Herapath who has Parkinson's

A High Court judge has appealed to the public for help in tracing a frail 81-year-old woman who was removed from a care home by her daughter.

Cambridgeshire County Council's social services department was so concerned for the welfare of Mrs Edna Herapath that it resorted to court action usually employed to trace abducted children.

Mrs Herapath, of March Road, Ring's End, Wisbech, was admitted to the care home because she suffers from Parkinson's disease.

She was taken away from the home on April 23 by her daughter, Anne Jenkinson.

Social workers are anxious to find the old lady, fearing she may be in need of urgent medical attention.

Women ordered to court

Lawyers for the council told Mr Justice Munby at a private hearing in London on Friday that Mrs Jenkinson and her daughter Karen had been arrested and questioned.

But they have refused to reveal where Mrs Herapath was now living.

The judge ordered the two women to be brought to court for questioning on Monday.

He directed that anyone who has Mrs Herapath in their custody must surrender her to social services immediately.

The judge asked newspapers and broadcasters to publicise the case in the hope that members of the public will come forward with information.