AN elderly dementia sufferer plunged to her death from a window of a care home where safety standards were inadequate, a court heard yesterday.

Norah Elliott got through the window of her first-floor room and onto the roof of a conservatory before suffering catastrophic injuries in the fall.

Home owner Matt Matharu went on trial at Teesside Crown Court today (Tuesday, November 18) accused of a string of breaches of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.

It is claimed window restraints at Parkview residential care home in Seaton Carew, Hartlepool, were either missing or easily broken and posed a risk.

An investigation following Mrs Elliott's death in October 2012 showed one of the two windows was not restricted from opening, said prosecutor James Kemp.

He told a jury police searched the room, outside, and the pensioner's property and did not find the device or a screwdriver capable of dismantling it.

"You will hear that the room had been refurbished and the window locks on that window had not been refitted," he said. "The defendant says they had been.

"Hartlepool Borough Council took over the investigation and they looked at other windows. You will hear that they had chains that were not suitable or broken."

Mr Matharu denies failing to ensure people were not exposed to risk, to maintain devices, to make appropriate health and safety arrangements and to notify and report a death.

Mrs Elliott, 90, moved into a care home to be close to her ill husband, Bob, because she was his main carer and they were "devoted to each other", Mr Kemp said.

She was said to have been unhappy with staff at the place, and pushed for a move after her own health deteriorated, and they were relocated at Parkview.

A care plan highlighting describing the OAP as a high risk in relation to her personal safety was sent to the new care home.

Mr Kemp told the jury that she "needed to be watched closely" but bosses at the home made no inquiries about her history or desire to "go walkabout".

On one occasion she was returned to her room after being found trying to get out of a locked gate, and the next time she was seen was after the fall.

Mr Matharu, 50, of Elwick Road, Hartlepool, is expected to claim either Mrs Elliott or her husband, also 90, must have dismantled the window restrictor.

He told police that repairs to the home were done "when they came up", and admitted that he did not know how to do a risk assessment, the jury heard.

Mr Kemp said the incident "opened a Pandora's box" which showed there was no evidence of proactive maintenance, and records for work have never been found.