Nursing home owners to plead guilty to giving inadequate care

THE owners of a nursing home where an elderly resident went missing almost two years ago are pleading guilty to failing to provide adequate care for her.

Maura Reynolds, 78, disappeared from the Tara Care Centre on Putland Road, Bray, Co Wicklow, on Christmas night in 2005 after returning from dinner with family. She was never found and is presumed dead.

At Bray District Court yesterday, counsel for Paul Costello, co-owner of the nursing home, and his wife Anne Costello, co-owner and manager of the premises, said they would both be pleading guilty to a breach of the Nursing Homes Care and Welfare Regulations. However, the hearing was dramatically halted when the Health Service Executive (HSE), which initiated the legal proceedings, handed in an incomplete copy of the regulations for Judge Murrough Connellan to consult.