Lincoln man accused of punching his dying father gets apology and £2,500
A son accused of punching his dying father has received an apology and £2,500 in compensation after he was stopped from seeing him in hospital.
Lal Joshi, from Carholme Road, was prevented from caring for his ailing dad in August 2010, following an allegation he punched his father, Dhani, at Park View Care Home, Lincoln.
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Vindicated: Lal Joshi has won £2,500 in compensation from Lincolnshire County Council after he was stopped from seeing his father. Picture: John Jenkins
Social services then took the decision to stop Mr Joshi from caring for his father, who suffered from dementia and a form of Parkinson's disease.
His father died following a chest infection on August 29, 2010. He was 83.
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However, Lincolnshire Police said Mr Joshi had no case to answer and closed the case in November 2010.
Lincolnshire County Council has now been ordered to pay Mr Joshi £2,500 in compensation and told to send him a letter of apology.
Speaking exclusively to the Echo, Mr Joshi, said: "I took early retirement to care for my sick dad in Monks Road.
"I sacrificed three years of my social and family life to live with him. I did everything for him because he needed 24-hour assistance.
"I fed him, gave him medicine, did his washing and housework and even slept in the same room as him. He was extremely ill and I did what I felt was right."
In July 2010, Mr Joshi flew to his native India for three weeks. During that time, his father stayed at the Park View Care Home, a residential centre for the elderly that closed last year.
It was soon after his return that the allegation was made by a member of staff at the home and Mr Joshi was stopped from either taking his father home or visiting him.
"I couldn't believe it when I was told I couldn't take my father home," said Mr Joshi, a retired engineer.
"I was heartbroken. Of course I didn't punch my father. The care worker walked in as my father was crying because I was leaving the care home for the day. I was shaking his hand.
"I don't know why the ridiculous allegation was made. It was perhaps because I often complained about the treatment he was receiving."
In an "act of desperation" Mr Joshi spent £4,600 to obtain a court order to see his father.
After visiting him for half an hour on August 27 and an hour on August 28, his father died a day later.
Mr Joshi said: "I think the way the council dealt with this was disgusting.
"They have to make sure they have the facts right before they impact on someone's life like they have mine. I had to fight the council on this. But I am pleased I have finally cleared my name."
Councillor Graham Marsh, the council's executive member for adult services, said: "In 2010 the Ombudsman considered Mr Joshi's concerns – and ruled that the county council were right to initiate safeguarding procedures into allegations surrounding Mr Joshi's vulnerable father.
"The sole element of these procedures which was not endorsed by the Ombudsman was where we prevented Mr Joshi from visiting his father in hospital. The authority acknowledged that a better course of action would have been to facilitate supervised visits.
"The Head of Safeguarding has been in regular contact with Mr Joshi and supported a resolution to his concerns. In consequence of that, an additional goodwill gesture was agreed which meant the council has since written off £1,247 in care home fees."
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by gsx1100
Thursday, March 07 2013, 12:40AM
“"Hard to see why an independent witness would lie"
An independent witness, in my view, should not have any connections with either Mr. Joshi or the Park View care home.The complainant was an employee of the home.
In the article, Lal Joshi had complained about his fathers poor treatment. So was the complaint of assault an act of a disgruntled carer, a genuine misinterpretation or an actual assault?
Whichever it was, this was badly handled by social services.”
by eatmygoal
Wednesday, March 06 2013, 9:27AM
“"Hard to see why an independent witness would lie"
Yes I can't imagine that anyone has ever lied about anything, wasn't there a Ricky Gervais film about that odd concept of someone telling a lie rather than the truth? Still it is interesting that you still think something was going on because the statemen below clears up any doubt
"However, Lincolnshire Police said Mr Joshi had no case to answer and closed the case in November 2010."”
by ColinLincs
Wednesday, March 06 2013, 6:57AM
“The article seems to be short on facts but the end story is this poor man was separated from his dying father. Money will never make up for that.”
by Frugaldougal
Wednesday, March 06 2013, 12:51AM
“Baptimp is right, clearly there was a case to investigate but the man died so he wouldnt need protecting any more. Hard to see why an independent witness would lie unless it was the owner which I doubt. This is a purely procedural settlement so where is the vindication? If the LA mount a legal challenge it costs them way more than £4000 so they save the tax payer money and pay him off! a poor piece of reporting echo. Would love to see the police files!!”
by JOLLYFISHERMA
Tuesday, March 05 2013, 6:40PM
“BaptImp which report have you read the Ombudsman report or the highly sanitised report contain in the press release.
United Lincolnshire has Gary Walker as a whistleblower it is time what is occuring at L.C.C. is exposed.”
by BaptImp
Tuesday, March 05 2013, 5:10PM
“Jollyfisherma seems to have inside information but I am not clear whether he believes Mr Joshi was possibly abused or not! My reading of the report suggests that the Ombudsman didn't make a judgement about the allegations, just that the matter could have been handled differently.”
by JOLLYFISHERMA
Tuesday, March 05 2013, 2:38PM
“Believe me as someone closely involved in this ,Lincolnshire County Council were well aware of their short commings 2 years ago.Despite being informed independently the head of service refused to meet with Mr Joshi.
There was an independent investigation which pointed out the short commings,but thas was ignored.It has taken 2 years for Mr Joshi to get this resolved,had L.C.C. accepted the advice they were given there was no need to proceed to the Ombudsman,L.C.C. did not apolgise before they were forced to ,and then only grudingly.
If the Echo has any integrity and or any investigative journalists left I would urge them to dig deeper into this matter,there were many members of staff concerned how Mr Joshi was treated.
Cllr Parker who supported Mr Joshi would be a good port of call.”
by Fivebyfive
Tuesday, March 05 2013, 11:19AM
“Today's joke: Councillor Graham Marsh, the council's executive member for adult services, said: We are the council and we are never wrong...ever..even when its proved we are wrong."
.
.
The council taxpayer should not be footing this bill. It should be coming out of the pockets of teh guilty.”
by eatmygoal
Tuesday, March 05 2013, 11:13AM
“No, they were right to investigate to see if there was something, not that there was something. So they were right to set up safe guarding procedures in case there was something there. They were not right to prevent all access and the wooly statement in the end about "supporting a resolution" doesn't help.”
by BaptImp
Tuesday, March 05 2013, 10:22AM
“As with all these situations you have to read between the lines to get close to the truth. The Ombudsman indicated that the County Council were right to instigate safeguarding investigations - ie there was something to investigate!”