Falklands vet who died after attack by neighbour 'could've been saved' (2024)

A Falklands war veteran who died two months after being battered over the head with a shovel by an embittered neighbour 'could have survived' if he had been treated differently in hospital, his family say.

Retired soldier Royston Costello, 60, was left partially-paralysed and unable to speak after the attack by Thomas Dunn, 84, in February last year.

The brutal assault, likened to a case from TV show Midsomer Murders, involved Dunn waiting for Mr Costello's wife to take the dog for a walk before he sneaked inside their sheltered housing flat in a leafy Cheshire town and attacked his victim while he lay dozing on the settee.

But Mr Costello rallied in hospital following the crime and had recovered to the point he was able to have Facetime video calls with family members.

His death two months later came after a feeding tube inserted into his stomach leaked, causing peritonitis, a severe infection, an inquest heard.

At an inquest on Friday, a hospital matron admitted 'three areas of omissions' in care given to Mr Costello at the Royal Stoke Hospital in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, after the feeding tube was inserted on April 18.

Nurses did not follow standard operating procedures for pain relief, records were not kept of what medication and painkillers were being administered and the length of tube inserted into Mr Costello's stomach had not been measured, the court was told.

Grandfather-of-six Mr Costello's widow Catherine and sister Deborah Dunn – no relation of Thomas Dunn – said they were aware he was in pain a day later.

He was also prescribed a morphine painkiller and analgesics but no interventions were made to discover the source of the pain and he died on April 20 after his condition suddenly deteriorated.

Mrs Costello said: 'I saw him on the 19th and he said he was in pain. They (the nurses) should have followed up on that as the pain could have indicated something was wrong. He would definitely still be around if he hadn't had the procedure.'

Ms Dunn added: 'The hospital has a procedure which should have been followed but wasn't – that if there is any mention of pain, nurses should seek advice.'

Ms Dunn's partner Ian Mills said: 'A guy who'd been hit over the head with a shovel never once complained about his head – he was tough as anything – but he complained about his stomach. Something was wrong and should have been investigated.'

Mr Costello's relatives said they were left 'disappointed' after Cheshire Coroner Elizabeth Wheeler did not make any specific criticisms of the hospital over its failure to investigate the source of Mr Costello's stomach pain, which his family believe may have found the infection.

Concluding the inquest in Warrington, the coroner recorded Mr Costello's death as unlawful killing - contributed to by 'complications from a medically-necessary procedure'.

Ms Wheeler said medical evidence justified the fitting of the feeding tube, through a 'peg' in the abdomen, because Mr Costello was 'uncomfortable' with previous arrangements of a tube in his throat and he was still not able to swallow food.

The coroner said: 'The evidence of the doctor (responsible for his treatment) was that this could not wait as potential (to begin) swallowing in a few weeks was not a guaranteed outcome. Because of Royston's co-morbidities, nutrition was important.'

Turning to the pain felt by Mr Costello, the coroner said: 'The notes record that the pain score was zero but this is at odds with both the family's concerns sand the fact that morphine was administered.'

But she said members of his treatment team believed the pain reported on April 19 was 'around the site of the peg' and that 'after the insertion of a peg, some pain is normal'.

'The doctors' findings were not consistent with peritonitis having developed at this stage,' she added.

She added: 'Even if Royston's pain had triggered additional intervention by professionals, it's unclear what the findings or the response would have been.'

It was not until the day of Mr Costello's death that a CT scan showed he had developed peritonitis around the tube.

He then became 'very unstable' and had to be sent to the emergency department, Ms Wheeler said.

Clinicians decided it was 'not in Mr Costello's best interests to go to (operating) theatre due to his condition' and he was moved to palliative care, dying at 8.20pm – only 36 hours after the tube had been inserted.

Mr Costello's family are awaiting the outcome of an internal investigation by the hospital, which is due to report soon, and have also complained to the ombudsman about his care.

Earlier during the inquest, Alice Podmore - matron for trauma, orthopaedics and neurosurgery at the hospital and who led a review into his care - admitted: 'There were three areas of omissions that I could see.'

Among issues she highlighted included a lack of documentation about why he had been prescribed oramorph, a morphine-based painkiller, the night before his death.

She said: 'I can't see any correlation in the nursing care plan for why the oramorph was required at the point it was given.'

Dunn was jailed for life with a minimum term of 17 and a half years after pleading guilty to the murder of Mr Costello.

At his sentencing last October, Chester Crown Court heard Dunn developed a grudge against Mr Costello.

The victim had served in the Royal Engineers for 14 years and survived the bombing of the RFA Sir Galahad in June 1982, which killed 48 soldiers and crew.

He later worked as a security guard on the railways but was forced to retire because of heart problems.

Dunn harboured feelings of resentment towards his neighbour at a sheltered housing complex in leafy Sandbach, Cheshire - claiming Mr Costello had been making noise, using a fire door and letting his pet chihuahua dog off of the lead.

He was also resentful that Mr Costello had received a new car, under a 'mobility' scheme, which was vandalised on February 19.

The court heard that, following the incident involving the car, Dunn stole a spade from a neighbour's shed.

He then waited until shortly before 10am on February 20 for Mrs Costello to take the couple's dog for a walk, then crept into his neighbour's flat and battered him over the head three times as he dozed in the sofa.

The attacker disposed of the spade in a hedge and fled on his electric scooter - leaving Mrs Costello to make the horrific discovery.

The crime was likened to a 'real-life Midsomer Murder' after the TV series involving grisly killings in a fictitious countryside town.

Mr Costello's family said tensions between the pair had been brewing for months because he suspected Dunn of vandalising his previous vehicle, a Hyundai Tucson.

In May last year, he discovered the letter 'x' etched into the car's doors and reported it to police, but officers claimed there was not enough evidence to prosecute.

Eight months later, Mr Costello discovered similar scratches – this time the letter 'z' – on the doors of his new electric Nissan Qashqai.

He reported Dunn again and, on February 19, officers from Cheshire police arrived at the complex and interviewed him – the day before he then turned to violence.

Retired carer Mrs Costello, 67, her husband's second wife, previously told the Mail she had asked managers at Anchor, the housing firm which manages the flats, to install CCTV cameras outside the block after their car was vandalised.

'I just feel so angry because it should never have happened,' she said.

'We had asked Anchor to install CCTV, but they said it wasn't necessary. The police have also told me Dunn has a record for assault, so why was he allowed to move here?'

Mrs Costello, a retired carer, said she was considering taking legal action against the housing company.

She added: 'The scene I came home to that day was absolutely horrendous, it still plays on my mind.

'Roy was asleep and wouldn't have known what was happening. But I am full of "what-ifs" - what if I had woken him up, what if I hadn't gone out at that time? But I can't let myself think like that.'

Describing Dunn as 'belligerent,' she added: 'I just told Roy to ignore him.

'The other residents loved Roy. They had a bench made for the communal garden, where I go to sit. It has a plaque which says, "In memory of a true friend", which he was.'

A source told the Mail: 'It is not something that usually happens in a place like Sandbach - it's a real-life Midsomer Murder.'

Chester Crown Court heard Dunn had been assessed by a psychologist and had underlying mental health problems.

But his lawyer Peter Wright, defending, said: 'These are insufficient to satisfy the requirement so far as a defence of manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility.'

In a heartbreaking statement issued following Dunn's sentencing, Mrs Costello said: 'Roy was a gentle giant who would always help anyone. He was very well loved by all who knew him because of his caring nature.

'Roy and I were very much one unit and we went everywhere and did everything together. Quite simply we were each other's world - we always said as long as we had each other that was enough.

'Roy being taken the way he was by a neighbour who can only be described as an evil coward is something I will never get over.

'I have been left with a big void in my life where Roy used to be and I know life will not be the same.

'I miss Roy each and every day and I now have to live my life a different way.

'I will do my very best to live a life without Roy as I know this is what he would want, but I do not look forward to this and it will not be easy without him, he was my rock.'

An Anchor spokesman said Dunn had failed to disclose his convictions when he moved in.

'We extend our deepest condolences to Mr Costello's family at this extremely distressing time,' he added.

'We will continue to work with the police and other agencies.'