Pensioner died after mistaking chlorine disinfectant tablets for mints

A care home company has been fined £270,000 over the death of a resident who swallowed disinfectant tablets thinking they were mints.

Alzheimer’s patient James McConnell, 72, was found foaming at the mouth and violently vomiting at the Lomond Court Care Home in August 2015.

His mouth was also badly burned and his eyes were streaming as he tried to spit out the tablets that had been left in an unsealed tub in the corridor by a delivery driver.

Britain’s largest care home operator, HC-ONE, apologised to the Scot’s family after it admitted failing to ensure the health and safety of residents.

One of Mr McConnell’s sons, Stuart, told Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court his father had only been in the home for nine weeks.

‘That was the irony, he went there to be safe,’ he said.

The tablets, which are classed as a hazardous substance, were dropped off at around 7.30am on August 4 and left out until the housekeeper or handyman arrived a short while later at 8am.

Mr McConnell’s widow, Wilma, told the BBC: ‘My husband constantly paced the corridors and he came across the package, the home told me.

‘The tablets were the size of a strong mint and he had a sweet tooth so he ate a couple of them.’

Mr McConnell was rushed to Victoria Hospital for tests and later discharged with the advice he take plenty of fluids.

But when he started showing signs of pain and lethargy, he was readmitted as an emergency on his GP’s advice before pneumonia was diagnosed and he died on August 11.

Darlington-based HC-ONE Limited, which has more than 330 homes across the UK, admitted failing to ensure the health and safety of residents at the home, in particular Mr Mcconnell, between August 2013 and August 2015.

The company was convicted of failing to assess the risk presented by four chemical products, including the Titan Chlor Plus chlorine tablets Mr McConnell swallowed.

It also had no adequate system of works to manage deliveries of chlorine products or an appropriate review procedure in place in respect of the arrangements.

Defending, Murdo MacLeod QC, said procedures had since been put in place to prevent any repeat.

Sheriff Jamie Gilchrist QC stressed that the financial penalty ‘is in no way seen as an attempt to put a value on Mr McConnell’s life’.

HC-ONE chief operating officer Paula Keys apologised personally to Mrs McConnell Wilma after the hearing.

In a statement issued by the firm she said: ‘Whilst nothing can atone for their sad loss we hope today provides some sense of closure for them.

‘We have always been clear that lessons must be learned from this tragic event, as the health and safety of our residents is our absolute priority.’