A grandfather of 83 accused police of treating him ‘like a hardened drug dealer’ after he was cleared of poisoning his infirm wife with a painkilling patch.
Walter Crompton attached the prescription patch to the leg of wife of 60 years Eileen after she said she had been left in severe comfort by a blot clot.
But staff at Allendale Care Home in Blackley, Manchester, where 83-year old dementia suffer Mrs Crompton has been residing, contacted police because the patch contains morphine.
Four days later officers detained Mr Crompton and kept him in custody for seven hours during which he was asked to give fingerprints and a DNA sample while their raided his property and took away medication.
He was questioned twice on suspicion of administering a noxious substance under the Offences Against the Person Act 1861 – an offence which can carry a maximum five years in jail upon conviction.
After a three month ordeal during which the retired British Aerospace aircraft engineer was on bail and temporarily banned from contacting his wife, Mr Crompton was cleared of wrongdoing.
But the pensioner who has lost weight and struggled to sleep said: “This whole sorry business has been hanging over me for more than three months and I think the way it has been dealt with is absolutely disgusting.
“I’ve had a hell of a time and been treated as if I was like some kind of hardened drug dealer. I’ve been missing my wife greatly because of all this.
“I used to be allowed see her every day but after my arrest I was told not to contact her at all. I was allowed to visit her later but only under supervision with someone watching over us.
“Two or three days per week I had no-one to go to the care home with me so I was refrained from seeing my wife. It was terrible.
“Then on Monday when I went to the police station they told me there was no case to answer.
“They said all accusations had been dropped. Why couldn’t that have happened after two weeks? Instead it’s been an absolutely horrendous three months.”
The incident occurred last April after retired factory machinist Eileen moved into the care home having had a number of falls at home.
She has dementia, heart problems and chronic arthritis, for which her doctor had prescribed codeine and is unlikely to return home.
Walter has been Eileen’s only carer for two years when she became seriously ill. He supplied the patches after his wife developed a blood clot in her leg that was causing her a lot of pain.
He said the patches had been prescribed by a doctor and said care home staff did not tell him the pain relief patches were banned – just that his wife’s codeine prescription was not allowed on the premises.
But officers from the Greater Manchester Police Public Protection Investigation Unit started an investigation and a ‘multi-agency strategy meeting’ was held.
At the time senior detectives said it was a ‘potentially serious offence’ in which a vulnerable elderly woman with significant health issues could have come to serious harm.
But today former RAF veteran Mr Crompton who is considering filing a report to the Independent Police Complaints Commission said: “I’ve never committed a crime in my 83 years and for this to happen is mind-boggling.
“For the police to say I’ve tried to harm my wife is unbelievable.
“She had been complaining of arthritis in her arm and I said I had a pain patch in my pocket so I put it on her arm. I used to look after her 24 hours a day so I know what she can and can’t have.
“The morphine patches were prescribed to her by a doctor and we picked up a batch of them once a month. It’s very strong, but she needed them.
”When the care workers saw the patch they could have just told me it was wrong because they administer all the medication.
“They should have said ‘you can’t do anything’ and gave me a rollicking but instead they called the police.
“I have never been in a cell before, I’ve only seen stuff like that on TV. A man of 83 being treated like that isn’t right.
“I never had anything to eat from morning to night when I was in the cell.
“I was locked in there on my own. My heart was racing and I didn’t know what I had done wrong and at the time I had to do something to get my sanity back so I started remembering some of the old tunes and I started singing for 45 minutes – I was singing to myself like a fool.
“I was just passing the time because I was getting so anxious so I was singing trying to eliminate the thought of what might happen.
“It was soul destroying in that cell and it makes me absolutely devastated to think that they would think I would harm someone.
“I have been my wife’s carer for 15 years and would never harm a hair on her head.
“I believe in police doing their duties and I’ve always had faith in the police but this has made me ask myself questions about them. I don’t think anybody believes what I did was criminal.”
Police confirmed Walter was interviewed twice and a file of evidence was sent to the CPS who concluded there was insufficient evidence.
Det Supt Joanne Rawlinson, of the Public Protection Division, said: “This was a potentially serious incident in which a vulnerable elderly woman with significant health issues could have come to serious harm and, as such, people would expect the police to always conduct a thorough investigation.
“An integral part of the inquiry was to safeguard the potential victim and, while the investigation was ongoing, bail conditions were necessary to ensure this happened.”
“After twice interviewing the 83-year-old man, we presented a file of evidence to the CPS and they ruled there is insufficient evidence to proceed to a charge.”
A spokesman for Allendale Care Home said: “We strictly follow the guidelines with regard patient care and protection to ensure they receive the highest standard of care.”
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