AN ELDERLY man fell to his death at a North-East care home because the owners failed to ensure adequate safety measures were in place, a court was told yesterday.

Norman Shirley, 80, was admitted to the Jenard nursing home in Hartlepool on a short stay basis in August 2001 to provide respite care for his wife, who was having difficulty looking after him.

But Teesside Crown Court was told three days after he was admitted to the home, in Stockton Road, the pensioner was found dead after falling from an upstairs bedroom window.

In a case brought by the Health and Safety Executive, the owners of the home, Maria Gibson, 57, and Michael Gibson, 58, have been charged with failing to ensure Mr Shirley was not exposed to a risk to his safety.

The pair, of Catherine Street, Hartlepool, both deny the charges brought under the Health and Safety at Work Act.

The court heard that Mr Shirley had gone to bed on August 9, and was checked by staff at about 5.15am the next morning and found to be asleep.

Less than an hour later a staff member discovered the elderly resident dead on the ground below his bedroom window, with the window opened wide.

An investigation into his death was immediately launched by the Health and Safety Executive.

Andrew Finlay, prosecuting, said: "The defendants ought to have ensured that the window did not open fully in that way."

Mr Finlay told the court that in 1997 the Health and Safety Executive had written to staff to advise them to install window restrictors to make the home safe but he received no reply to his letter.

The trial continues.