Daughter of nursing home murder victim Charli Darragh rejoices Royal Commission

IT’S taken four years of heartache and advocating, but now that a Royal Commission has been announced, daughter of Tweed nursing home murder victim Marie Darragh couldn’t be happier but warns even Coast nursing homes will be in the firing line.

CHARLI Darragh is ecstatic there will be a Royal Commission into the aged care industry after four years of campaigning following the 2014 murder of her mother in a Ballina nursing home.

Ms Darragh said she had goosebumps as new Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced a Royal Commission into the aged care industry.

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Charli Darragh has been advocating for a Royal Commission into the aged care industry since her mother was murdered in 2014. Picture: Richard Gosling

She said the commission would identify nursing homes which needed to be shut down, including on the Gold Coast.

“I have been screaming for four years, getting nowhere fast and then he was appointed Prime Minister and he did it in not time at all,” Ms Darragh said.

In 2014, Ms Darragh was propelled into an aged care reform advocate after her mother Marie Darragh was murdered at a Ballina nursing home.

Marie Darragh was murdered at a Ballina nursing home in 2014. Picture: Richard Gosling

Two years later, a NSW Supreme Court jury found nurse Megan Haines injected 82-year-old Marie and Isabella Spencer with lethal doses of insulin after she learned they complained against her.

Haines, 49, was given a maximum sentence of 36 years and will first be eligible for parole in 2041.

Ms Darragh said she knew the nurse had murdered her mother just minutes after her death.

“I was working at Sanctuary Cove as a waitress at the time when I got a phone call that mum had a heart attack,” she said.

Charli Darragh 's mother (Marie) who was one of two aged residents murdered by a nurse at a Ballina nursing home in 2014 (insulin injections). Picture: Richard Gosling

“I went straight down there and spent 20 minutes with mum without even knowing she had died.

“Then a detective told me I had to leave the room because it was a crime scene.

“I automatically thought of the nurse.”

Ms Darragh said her mum complained to her about Haines for almost a week but was too scared to make a formal complaint.

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“On Friday she said she made a complaint and within eight hours that woman murdered my mother.”

After her mum was killed, Ms Darragh started Angels for the Elderly, a group which advocated for CCTV cameras in aged care facilities, screening of employees and a Royal Commission into the industry.

On Sunday, Mr Morrison announced a Royal Commission would be held into the industry. The Government had been reviewing the sector in the wake of the Oaken nursing home inquest.

The inquest into the death of Graham Rollbusch heard residents of the South Australian nursing home had their food sent back to the kitchen if they were difficult.

Ms Darragh said her next challenge would be sitting in the courtroom on October 26 when Haines appeals her murder conviction.