Elderly patient at scandal-plagued Oakden aged care home killed in room just weeks after attacker assaulted him, inquest told

AN elderly patient at the scandal-plagued Oakden aged care and mental health home remained living in a room next to a man he later killed, despite having attacked him just weeks earlier, an inquest has heard.

Graham Rollbusch, 70, died after being attacked by another resident, Peter Palmer, at the Makk and McLeay Nursing Home at Oakden. Picture supplied by family.

AN elderly patient at the scandal-plagued Oakden aged care and mental health home remained living in a room next to a man he later killed, despite having attacked him just weeks earlier, an inquest has heard.

Dementia patient Graham Rollbusch, 70, died after being attacked in his unlocked room at the government-run nursing home by Peter Palmer, 85, in the early hours of February 28, 2008.

Mr Palmer was found standing outside his victim’s door — it should have been locked from the outside — with blood on his hands before telling a carer: “I think I hit him too many times. I should not have been near him”.

The Coroners Court heard on Monday heard how Mr Palmer, who also suffered from dementia, assaulted Mr Rollbusch twice the previous month and told him “there is more where that came from”.

An autopsy concluded that Mr Rollbusch died from a combination of severe pulmonary emphysema from years of being a heavy smoker, ischaemic heart disease and recent trauma to the head and neck.

Graham Rollbusch’s niece Lorraine Allen is “angry and sad” about her uncle’s death. Pictured outside the Coroner’s Court on Monday.

Agency carer Arif Pasha Mohmad was on his third shift at the aged care home on the day of Mr Rollbusch’s death in February 28. He gave evidence at the inquest on Monday.

Mr Palmer, who remained in the adjoining room despite being known for aggressive behaviour to staff and other residents, was later charged with murder but the case was abandoned pre-trial after he died in March 2009.

State Coroner Mark Johns opened Mr Rollbusch’s inquest on Monday, almost a decade after the incident at the north eastern care home, which is being closed after a series of scandals.

The inquest was told that staff found Mr Rollbusch lying in a pool of blood and Mr Palmer standing quietly outside his victim’s door, which was supposed to have been locked to protect patients.

Counsel assisting the coroner, Amy Cacas, said issues to be explored included what type of treatment was given and the actions of staff.

The home had been sanctioned a few months earlier.

Agency carer Arif Pasha Mohmad, who was in his third shift on the day of Mr Rollbusch’s death, testified that he had a master key to the rooms, which should have been locked from the outside.

Outside court, Mr Rollbusch’s niece Lorraine Allen questioned why her uncle’s attacker was not moved into a secure room earlier.

She said she was “angry and sad”.

It comes as Independent Commissioner Against Corruption Bruce Lander QC will on Tuesday announce his terms of reference for his inquiry into whether any maladministration or misconduct occurred.

The inquest continues.