Britain is no country for an old carer with a pain patch called Walter Crompton

A recent article in the 'Daily Mail' by 60 year old Richard Littlejohn and as part of the paper's 'Dignity for the Elderly' was entitled :
Modern Britain : no country for old men

Richard chose to illustrate his point by focussing on the case of 83-year-old grandfather Walter Crompton, who :

* had been his wife's 'carer' for the last 15 years of his 60 year marriage, but when her dementia took a serious turn for the worse, reluctantly admitted her to the Allendale Residential Home, in Blackley, Manchester.
 

* found that during one of his regular visits, his wife complained that her arthritis was causing her severe discomfort and having a pain patch in his pocket, placed it on her arm.

* four days later, was arrested by police on suspicion of ‘administering a noxious substance’ with intent 'to injure, aggrieve or annoy' under the Offences Against the Person Act 1861 and, if found guilty, faced a maximum of 5 years in jail.


* had his house searched while locked up in a cell without food for seven hours, was fingerprinted, forced to give a DNA swab and at midnight was interviewed before being bailed in the early hours of the morning.

 

* found, that as part of his bail conditions, was barred from contacting his wife and later said : "I used to see her every day, but after my arrest I was told not to contact her at all. I was allowed to see her later, but only under supervision with someone watching us. Two or three days a week there was no one to go with me, so I was restrained from seeing her. It was terrible."

 

* had his case passed to the specialist Greater Manchester Police Public Protection Investigation Unit and after a two-month investigation, was told he would not face charges.
 

* had Detective Supt Joanne Rawlinson say of his case : "This was a potentially serious incident in which a vulnerable elderly woman with significant health issues could have come to serious harm."

* said of his own case : "To say I’ve tried to harm my wife is unbelievable. I used to look after her 24 hours a day, so I know what she can have and can’t have. The way I have been dealt with is absolutely disgusting."

* had Richard say of his case that : 'The whole ‘care’ system is a Kafkaesque nightmare of ridiculous regulations, drawn up by brain-dead bureaucrats and enforced by careerist automatons who couldn’t care less about the suffering they cause and are only interested in following procedure and covering their own backsides' and concluded that :
 

'After his dreadful ordeal, Walter would be forgiven for concluding that modern Britain is No Country For Old Men.'