A 91-year-old man has died after allegedly being attacked by another dementia sufferer in a Highland care home.
John Taylor suffered nine injuries to his head in an incident at a £900-a-week Meallmore facility.
He died of a blood clot within minutes of the alleged assault.
It is understood to have happened in the dining room in front of seven other residents – but no staff.
Police have carried out a probe into the death, and inquiries are now being directed by the Scottish Fatalities Investigation Unit at the Crown Office.
Mr Taylor, a retired civil engineer from Rosemarkie on the Black Isle, was diagnosed with dementia six years ago but had lived an active life until earlier this year.
His son Ian Taylor, of Cromarty, said last night that the family had raised concerns about staffing levels at the Meallmore Lodge Care Home at Daviot, south of Inverness, just days after his dad moved there in August.
He also revealed that the family had been told that the alleged attacker had a history of aggressive behaviour. It is understood he has now been moved to a psychiatric hospital.
“What we’re concerned about is that everybody in there, and in any other care home, is being looked after in the way they should be,” he said.
“What alternative is there? You can try to care for somebody at home when you know that you will both have to stop work and the facilities and circumstances might not be appropriate, or you trust somewhere to do what they are getting paid to do.
“If you can’t do either of these two things, what are you left with?”
The 57-year-old said the family would not be able to move on until the investigations had been completed and lessons were learned.
“What happened is not letting anyone get on with their lives. Usually after a funeral you can move on, but until something comes out of this we will not be able to do that,” he said.
“We were told that this other man had a history of violence or aggression, and clearly that raises the question of whether that person should have been in with other residents and what level of supervision there was.”
Mr Taylor died on Friday, October 16. His funeral was held on Wednesday last week.
His death certificate states that the cause of death was pulmonary thromboembolism and calf vein thrombosis.
The family do not know whether the fatal clot moved as a direct result of the alleged attack, but have been told that he died on the floor of the care home dining room a maximum of 30 minutes after the incident.
The death certificate states the he died at 8:35pm.
Family members had been alarmed after visiting Mr Taylor at a similar time during his first week at the home in early August.
“We were extremely concerned that we couldn’t find any members of staff to look after some very anxious and very agitated residents,” said Mr Taylor.
“We spent 15 minutes looking for any members of staff in that section, it was a staff changeover, and the staff that we eventually found were having a meeting.
“We did report our concerns with the care home and we were assured that this shouldn’t have happened.”
Meallmore Ltd is a family-run company based in Inverness with care homes across Scotland.
Last year, the Meallmore-run St Modans home in Fraserburgh was ordered to make a string of improvements to address “serious” and “significant” concerns.
The Press and Journal attempted to contact the firm several times in the last two days and received no response.
A police spokesman said: “Police Scotland was informed of a sudden death at care home in the Inverness area.
“Following liaison with partner agencies, the investigation has now concluded and a report has been submitted to the procurator fiscal for their consideration.”
A Crown Office spokesman said: “The procurator fiscal has received a report in connection with the death of a 91-year-old male in East Daviot.
“The investigation into the death, under the direction of the Scottish Fatalities Investigation Unit, is ongoing and the family will be kept updated in relation to any significant developments.”