Woman 'found dead in wheelchair'

A 74-year-old woman died after being left in a wheelchair overnight in a private nursing home, an inquest heard.

Brigid O'Callaghan was found with the chair's seat belt around her neck at the Bupa-run Amberley Court nursing home in Edgbaston, Birmingham.

The mother-of-five, who suffered brain damage in a car accident, was staying at the home for a week in October 2005, Birmingham Coroner's Court was told.

The inquest, which is expected to last a week, was adjourned until Tuesday.

Mrs O'Callaghan, from Sutton Coldfield, was staying at the home for a week's respite care while her daughter Ann, who was her fulltime carer, took a break.

Since her road traffic accident two years previously, Mrs O'Callaghan had used a wheelchair and needed a hoist to move her from her chair to her bed, the inquest heard.

'Same clothes'

Ann O'Callaghan told the jury she drove straight to the home after being telephoned by the manager and found police officers in her mother's room.

"The sergeant told me she had been found in her wheelchair with a strap around her neck," she said.

"It became clear that she had not been put to bed at all that night but had been left in the chair."

West Midlands Police arrested a nurse after the incident and launched an investigation but no charges were brought.

The inquest was told that Mrs O'Callaghan, known as Vera, was found wearing the same clothes as she had been on the previous day.

Cleaner Janet Sweeney told the inquest how she found Mrs O'Callaghan tipped over in her wheelchair in the middle of the room with the belt across her neck.

Ms Sweeny said she pressed the emergency buzzer, which was wrapped around a lampshade, to call for help.

Pathologist Helen Whitwell told the inquest the cause of death was given as asphyxia due to an obstruction in breathing.

She said no evidence of a struggle or marks to suggest another person was involved were found on Mrs Callaghan's body.