Pensioner vowed to murder St Leonards care home staff

A 92-year-old care home resident seemed “possessed” and said he wanted to murder the site manager with a cutlery knife, a court has heard.

Donald Burgess was a resident at Park Beck care home in St Leonards, East Sussex, when PC Stephen Smith emptied almost a full can of pepper spray into his face when he refused to drop an item of cutlery similar to a butter knife, Southwark Crown Court heard.

Mr Burgess, who had one leg and was in a wheelchair, was then Tasered by PC Rachel Comotto, police body-worn camera footage shown to jurors appeared to show.

PC Smith, 51, denies two counts of assault by using Pava spray and a baton, while PC Comotto denies one charge of assault by discharging her Taser.

Giving evidence, care home manager Steve Cooper said Mr Burgess was not responding as staff spent 35 minutes attempting to calm him down, before calling 999.

“He had a look in his eyes I’ve not seen before. He wasn’t the Donald I knew,” Mr Cooper told the court.

He added that he had said to Donald, “you don’t want to hurt anybody”, to which Donald had replied, “I do”.

The care home manager told the court Mr Burgess had been moved from the dining room into his own room for the safety of others.

He said the use of restraint was not allowed in the care home.

In a 999 call played to the jury, Donna Gardner, deputy manager of the care home, told the operator that Mr Burgess had said he wanted to murder and she feared he would also injure himself.

She told the court Mr Burgess had a history of threatening self-harm and had been under the care of mental health services previously.

She said: “Having tried everything, we couldn’t see how else to get the knife from Donald.”

After the taser had been discharged, Mr Burgess had to be taken to hospital to have one of the barbs – the part that attaches to the body – removed.

In a written statement read to the court, senior care home manager Alison O’Donohue said Mr Burgess was usually a happy gentleman and it was the first time police had had to be called.

Mr Burgess, who suffered from a number of health conditions, died in hospital three weeks after the incident in June 2022.

The prosecution say the defendants are not responsible for his death.

The trial continues.