An elderly woman ‘died of fright’ after a burglary at her home that police did not investigate properly, her son claims.
Elsie Price, 93, had her bank card and documents stolen during the burglary at her home in Nottingham in June 2024. She then died on July 7, 2024.
Her son, Terence Price, 70, who lived with his mum, says she deteriorated rapidly in the days after the burglary.
He contacted her bank who confirmed that thousands of pounds had been stolen from Elsie’s account.
Elsie was in good health before the incident and was recovering from a broken hip.
Terence said: ‘She was frightened to death, she died of fright. Every day she would say to me “have the police been back?”
‘I could see it was playing on her mind, it really upset her. But we never heard a word.
‘I was at her bedside when she passed away. They never came back to her, they just left her. They had no intention of ever going back to her.
‘I’m disgusted, I really am. I probably should have phoned the police but you think they’re getting on with their inquiries.
‘If only they came back and reassured my mother to say they would keep an eye on the place, sent a car to patrol up and down here, that would’ve done it for her.
‘It was disgraceful. My mother was 93 and she was in very good health up until this happened.
‘She was a lot better than any 93-year-old you’ve ever known before all of this happened.’
Terence said police failed to investigate further despite handing them bank statements and CCTV of where Elsie’s cash was withdrawn.
An internal review found that the family had not received the standard of service expected from Nottinghamshire Police and the force has apologised.
The force said an officer reviewed the case but no statement was ever taken. Terrence then informed police of his mother’s death on July 18.
This followed a formal complaint from him and the force accepted that the service provided was ‘poor and unacceptable’.
Terence added: ‘I didn’t expect this to go down this quickly. My mother was a lovely woman and was very much respected on Rise Park.
‘I feel so let down by the police.They have no notes of compassion or anything. It’s disgraceful.’
A spokesperson for Nottinghamshire Police said: ‘First and foremost, we are sorry to hear of the death of Elsie Price. An incident was reported to us in June 2024 and a crime was recorded.
‘Following an internal review, we found the level of service was not at the standard we would expect and have apologised to the family.
‘The investigating officer has been given learning around ensuring that they manage their investigations in a timely fashion and speak to their supervisor if assistance is needed and that cases are progressed quickly.
‘We would like to apologise to the family and offer our sincere condolences..’
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