Dementia dad lay in mall for two days af ter fatal plunge
Family’s anguish as pensioner dies in fire escape fall mystery
A PENSIONER lay dead for up to two days in a shopping centre after falling through a fire escape, it emerged yesterday. Dementia patient Frank Finnie, 80, suffered a serious head injury in the accident.
He was seen on CCTV falling, with his zimmer frame, through a fire exit at Aberdeen Market, in an unused part of the centre.
Mr Finnie’s son Keith, 44, yesterday demanded answers over how his father was able to fall through a public escape door without an alarm going off or anyone seeing it on CCTV. He said: ‘If it had been [heard or seen] he would be here with me today. I’ve lost my best friend. I’m utterly heartbroken.
‘All I have been told is that he sustained a serious head injury.
‘I hope he wasn’t lying there needing help and suffering for all that time.’
Mr Finnie was last seen leaving his home in the Sheddocksley area around 2pm on Thursday.
When he failed to return home his son raised the alarm. Knowing his father’s routine, the younger Mr Finnie headed towards the harbour, close to Aberdeen Market, to search with friends.
But on Saturday the OAP’s body was found. Police made the discovery after reviewing CCTV in the shopping centre, which sits beneath a former BHS store that has lain empty for several years.
Mr Finnie said: ‘He was a great character, he worked in the fish industry and was liked and loved by everyone he met.
‘He was always smiling and loved life. He was my best pal as well as my dad. He was a pure gent all his life and kept his dignity at all times. Now his dignity has been taken away.
‘Why was the door accessible as it’s apparently a redundant fire exit with no lights inside, steep stairs, and why was the camera that watched this happen not being viewed at the time?
‘Why was the door not securely locked to prevent this ever happening? Why were security checks not done both nights after closing the mall to make sure the area was clear?
‘Why was my dad able to open such a door being very weak? A kid could do it if he did.
‘Why was he not heard falling through the door with his zimmer? Did he suffer? Was he alive long? Could have he been saved after the accident if checks were done?
‘There’s at least four or five opportunities to prevent this happening which were missed due to incompetence. It could and should have been avoided.’
Mr Finnie added: ‘He had dementia but it didn’t affect him all the time.
‘Most of the time he was fine. He would have realised soon enough he needed to go home.’
A spokesman for Aberdeen Market said they could not comment on Mr Finnie’s death but said they were working with police.
A police spokesman said: ‘A man has sadly been found as part of inquiries to trace Frank Finnie.
‘The body is still to be formally identified but the family of Mr Finnie have been made aware. There are no apparent suspicious circumstances but inquiries are continuing to establish the full circumstances of the death.’
Mr Finnie’s disappearance came only weeks after a scheme designed to make it easier to track down missing dementia sufferers was launched in the North-East.
Carers provide police with sufferers’ personal information – such as places they know well – in an effort to save valuable time when a search is launched.
Last year, more than 500 people with dementia were reported missing in Scotland.
‘I hope he wasn’t lying suffering’
‘He was loved by everyone’