A woman has been cleared of manslaughter following the death of a 75-year-old man who had been a resident at the care home she worked.
Jane Barnard, aged 66 and of Longlevens, has been on trial at Gloucester Crown Court, and yesterday (Monday 8 December) a jury found her not guilty of the manslaughter of Derek Davies.
Barnard, a care worker, had previously pleaded guilty to one count of wilful neglect of Mr Davies, contrary to the Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015.
She will be sentenced for this offence on 19 January next year (2026).
During the trial, the court heard how Barnard wrongly gave Mr Davies 90g of slow-release morphine, a drug which was prescribed for another resident at Wheatridge Court in Abbeydale.
The court heard that once she realised her mistake, Barnard disposed of Mr Davies’ correct medication and did not report what had happened at the time.
Mr Davies became unwell later that afternoon and Barnard called 999 for an ambulance and he was taken to hospital by paramedics. The court was told how Barnard then took deliberate steps to conceal what had happened.
Two days later, on 8 September 2021, Barnard informed the care home deputy manager about what she had done. In the phone call she said she had panicked and that she was scared to death. When giving evidence in court she said that she did not think Mr Davies would die.
By the time the call was made, Mr Davies had already died earlier that day. The initial cause of death was recorded as a brainstem stroke, but this was later changed to the consequences of morphine toxicity.
Following an investigation by Gloucestershire Police’s Public Protection Unit, in July 2024 the Crown Prosecution Service authorised the two charges for Barnard.
On the first day of her trial on 24 November, she admitted to wilful neglect, and following a trial, a jury cleared her of manslaughter.
Detective Sergeant Bernadette Harding said: “Mr Davies’ family have been waiting four years to find out the full details about what happened to their father, and I thank them for their patience throughout this. They have sat through the entire trial and have been nothing but respectful and dignified for the whole process.
“Nothing will bring Mr Davies back, but I hope this process means they now have the answers they wanted and deserved.
“Mr Davies deserved to be cared for properly, and he should have been safe in the environment in which he was living.
“This was a particularly complex, sad and tragic incident, and I want to thank the officer in the case, Detective Constable Stuart Hurring, for his dedication to this difficult investigation.”
Following the verdicts, Mr Davies’ family said: “The last four years since our Dad’s death have been extremely upsetting for our family, both because we have missed him terribly and because we have had to live without knowing what caused his death and how it occurred.
“We have been kept in the dark, and the uncertainty and lack of knowledge surrounding the facts of his death have left us in a permanent state of torment, wondering what happened and how much he might have suffered. This has affected the way we remember Dad and his life, as well as our ability to grieve, which has all been clouded by the criminal investigation.
“Going through this has been traumatic for everyone involved – our Dad and family, as well as the defendant and her family – there are no winners here.
“We don’t know how much more time we would have had with our Dad but these events robbed us of that precious time and he is greatly missed.
“We are thankful for the hard work and effort that has been put into this by the police and Crown Prosecution Service, and we hope with the closure of this trial and with key questions answered, that we can start to process what happened and to remember Dad for the person he was.”