‘We’ve come to terms with it, but it still hurts’

Kathleen Bainbridge, 58, of North Drift Way, Luton, died after being attacked by a resident at Abacus House in Princes Street, Dunstable.

A joint investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and Central Bedfordshire Council found that the private care home was not the correct care facility for Stephen Flatt, who had bipolar disorder.

On Thursday (July 19) a judge at Luton Crown Court fined Hertfordshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, who placed Flatt at the home, £150,000 and ordered them to pay costs of £326,346. The owner of Abacus House, Chelvanayagam Menna, was fined £75,000 and ordered to pay costs of £338,996.

Flatt was sentenced to indefinite custody in a mental health unit in 2009.

Tom Bainbridge, 63, who now lives in Rotheram Avenue, Farley Hill, said he and his daughters Danielle, 36, and Jennifer, 34, now felt that they could move on.

“We now hope that mistakes will be learned from so that this doesn’t happen to some other poor family,” he said.

“We’ve never blamed Stephen, only the people who put him there.

“If they had folllowed through the way they should, they would have realised he shouldn’t have been there.”

The Luton Borough Council contractor said he felt the trust had been fined the right amount, but was worried the costs could impact on services.

Remembering the day his wife, a grandmother of three, was killed, he said: “I took her to work that day and kissed her goodbye. We were going to go out for a meal that night because it was pay day.

“Another month and we would have been 30 years married. But we didn’t get there.

“Now she has another two grandchildren who will never meet her.

“I’ve come to terms with what happened but it still hurts very badly.”

Abacus House was supposed to cater for people who had suffered brain injuries, and Mr Bainbridge said his wife had loved working there.

“For 10 years we had our Christmas Day on Boxing Day because she would always go in and make sure they had a proper roast dinner. She went out of her way to make sure they had a good time.

“We even went on holiday to the Isle of Wight with them.”

Now that the legal case has concluded, the family can pursue their claim for compensation.

“The money doesn’t matter though,” he said. “They could give us £400 million and it wouldn’t bring Kathy back.

“But I feel like we have final closure now, the court case took over everything.

“We’ve got to get on with our lives and try and enjoy ourselves. It would be nice now to be able go somewhere and think, ‘Kathy would have enjoyed this, but we can enjoy it for her’.”

Speaking after Friday’s sentencing, Hertfordshire Partnership NHS Trust chief executive Tom Cahill said: “We would again like to offer our sincere condolences to the family, friends and colleagues of Kathleen Bainbridge.

“We are absolutely committed to providing safe and effective services for the community we serve.

“The Trust will ensure that the lessons that have emerged from this trial are implemented in full.”

HSE Inspector Karl Howes said: “Care homes have a duty not only to protect the safety of their residents but their staff as well.

“I hope this will make all NHS Trusts and care facilities carefully consider the procedures that they have in place during patient placement.”