Doctor at centre of care homes abuse inquiry dies
ACARE home owner at the centre of a £15m investigation into alleged abuse of residents had died without facing trial.
Dr Prana Das’ court trial was ended when he was injured after being beaten with a hammer during a burglary at his Newport home.
Operation Jasmine, led by Gwent Police, examined the practices of six care homes where more than 103 residents were alleged to have been victims of abuse and neglect.
The investigation, concerning as many as 63 suspicious deaths, was launched in 2005 after the death of an 84-yearold woman.
It involved 75 police officers over seven years and is estimated to have cost £15m since it began in November 2005 – making it the UK’s most expensive inquiry of its kind.
The probe led to charges against Dr Das, a GP in Bargoed and director of Puretruce Health Care Ltd who at one time owned 25 homes across south Wales.
His trial collapsed after he suffered a brain injury following a burglary and was declared unfit to stand trial.
The judge presiding over the case ruled that the trial could not proceed against Dr Das and therefore could not proceed against Puretruce Healthcare Ltd company or Paul Black, who were also being investigated.
But a highly critical report in 2015 concluded that Dr Das “should have and could have been prosecuted”.
The independent review led by Dr Margaret Flynn found no single profession or agency took a lead role in addressing breaches of trust or alleged harm suffered by frail care home residents.
She called for the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) to reopen the investigation into the scandal – which she claimed could be the “tip of the iceberg” in Wales.
Inquests into the deaths of some of the residents at his nursing homes are still due to be held.
Pre-inquest hearings took place last autumn into the deaths of Dorothea Hale, Evelyn Jones, Stanley Bradford and Edith Evans.
They died at two homes – Ms Hale at Bargoed’s Grovesnor Nursing Home and the others at Brithdir.
A jury inquest is expected to be arranged and Coroner Geraint Williams said he would review whether the state bore any responsibility for the deaths of residents.
In 2013, Edward Donovan and Rhiannon Gibbons were jailed for a total of 25 years for breaking into the £1.6m home of Dr Prana Das and his wife Nishebita, before tying them up, beating them and stealing cash, jewellery and gold.