THE GARDA is investigating allegations that the owners of a private nursing home in Co Kilkenny have stolen several thousand euro, medication and personal public service cards from several residents.
One former resident of the Avondale Nursing Home in Callan alleges he was pressured by owner Miriam Holmes into giving her a cheque for €5,000 made out in her daughter’s name, Hayley Holmes. Ms Holmes initially asked for €10,000, according to the resident.
It is alleged that another former resident gave the owner a cheque for €1,500 on July 20th, 2011 – one day before the Health Information and Quality Authority secured a court order to shut down the home over fears for the lives of its residents.
Affidavits filed with Carlow District Court show inspectors from the State’s health watchdog have provided gardaí with a detailed breakdown of allegations made in recent weeks by former residents.
“The chief inspector has serious concerns in relation to possible criminal offences which may have been committed by the registered provider of this centre. Some of these concerns relate to possible financial abuses of residents, and social welfare payments. New allegations and information are continuing to emerge,” said the authority in a letter to Chief Supt Michael McGarry at Thomastown, Co Kilkenny, dated July 27th 2011.
The letter states one former resident complained that the owner withdrew his pension at Callan Post Office on July 10th, while another has alleged a large sum of money was taken from his pocket in 2009.
According to papers attached to the affidavits, the directors of the Avondale nursing home, Miriam and Hayley Holmes, were last seen boarding an airport shuttle bus at 7am on July 22nd last, following the closure of the nursing home.
They spent the night before at the Marriott Hotel in Ashbourne and left a range of items in the room, which were later seized by gardaí. These include a quantity of prescription drugs belonging to residents and the personal public service cards of five residents. A Beginning Life in Australia Guidewas also left behind. Efforts to contact Miriam Holmes were unsuccessful last night.