Justice call by home tragedy sister

The sister of a 36-year-old woman who died of an epileptic fit after two nurses were negligent at a West Midlands nursing home has urged other families to seek justice.

Christine Porter, of Fradley, near Lichfield, spoke after Harjinder Kaur Mangat and Bernadette Gerard got suspended jail sentences after the death of Eileen Murphy at Richard House Nursing Home, Aldridge.

Stafford Crown Court yesterday heard that the nurses did nothing to help Miss Murphy and today Mrs Porter said at least 24 separate complaints had been made over care at the home, which closed in 2005.

"I would just urge the families to press forward with their cases," she said.

"It has taken me several years to bring this case to a conclusion but I have finally got there. If they have any concerns about how their family members were treated at Richard House then they should pursue a complaint.

"The former owners and management of Richard House should be made accountable. After Eileen died a lot of people came forward with complaints. The home was riddled with problems which all came down to poor management."

Mrs Porter also paid tribute to her sister, who she described as a "wonderful person."

She added: "Eileen was a lovely woman and she was a wonderful sister. She was very bubbly and full of life and was quite religious.

"Although she suffered from a lot of medical problems she always smiled and tried to get on with things.

"She had only been in Richard House for two weeks. She went in there because we thought she would be given the best care possible in the hands of trained nurses.

"But how wrong we were. Now we have to try and rebuild our lives."

Mangat, of Kingswood Drive, Sutton Coldfield, was convicted of manslaughter by gross negligence and Gerard, of Florence Street, Hednesford, pleaded guilty to the same charge.