BY ROSETTA DONNELLY
An inquest into the death of Fivemiletown man, Ernest Porter found that he had died of hypothermia which he sustained after leaving Knockmoyle Nursing Home on a Winter's evening in 2003.
The 84-year-old retired farmer had been a resident of the home for just a few months. He was known to suffer from confusion, and that is why he went to Knockmoyle as it offered a high degree of security and supervision of elderly people with mental illness.
Despite this, Mr Porter managed to leave the Home using the front door which was locked with a keypad, the code number of which was displayed nearby.
The incident, however was not thought to be of sufficient importance to be reported to the appropriate authorities.
Although the code number was taken down after this incident, the code which Mr Porter had used was not changed until after his death.
Mr Porter was last seen in Knockmoyle at approximately 7.20 pm on Wednesday, 5th February 2003 when he was expressing concern about his cattle and wishing to leave to tend to them. A care worker reassured him.
He was next seen at approximately 7.55 pm by Una Hunt on Carrigan's Road.
She told the inquest that the night was wintry and that it was snowing, and how she was sufficiently concerned to report the matter to the police when she reached her destination. The police noted the alert at 8.17 pm. The police contacted Knockmoyle at approximately 8.30 pm to establish if the Home was missing a resident, and, it was only at this point that the staff realised that Mr Porter was missing from the home.
Extensive searches were conducted by the police and others attached to Knockmoyle until, at approximately 10.25 am on Thursday February 6, that Mr Porter was discovered by police in a field along Carrigan's Road.
He was in a crouched position, in mud, without shoes or trousers, at a point at a gradient below the road.
He was taken to Tyrone County Hospital where he was treated for hypothermia, but died at 12.01 pm on Thursday February 6.
A post-mortem examination confirmed that Mr Porter had died from hypothermia.
