POLICE have been called in to examine the circumstances surrounding the death of top York musician Bev Jones following his stay at a care home.

Mr Jones, 75, of Copmanthorpe, a leading chorister, composer, arranger, teacher and musical director who sang as a schoolboy at the Queen’s Coronation, died at Harrogate Hospital in February after being taken there by paramedics from Thistle Hill care home in Knaresborough.

York Press:

Now North Yorkshire Police has revealed that his death has been referred to the force by North Yorkshire County Council's Adult Safeguarding. "Officers are carrying out a detailed assessment of the circumstances before determining whether or not a criminal investigation is required," said a spokesman.

"It would not be appropriate to comment further while this assessment work is on-going."

North Yorkshire County Council said the safeguarding of vulnerable adults was one of its highest priorities.

"Once we received a safeguarding alert about the sad case of Mr Beverley Jones from the Care Quality Commission, we took appropriate action and immediately referred the matter to the police, who are now carrying out an investigation.”

A spokeswoman for Barchester Healthcare, which owns Thistle Hill, said: "The safety and wellbeing of residents is of the utmost importance but as the investigation is ongoing, we cannot comment at this time.”

Mr Jones' widow Lesley told The Press that his death had come as a huge shock.

She said he suffered from vascular dementia but the day before he died, he had been 'his usual giggly self, enjoying tea and biscuits with me.' She said; "A few days earlier I have video of him singing and laughing with our five-year-old grandson."

But she said that when she arrived at the home on February 28, she had found him in a coma-like state with his skin turning purple.

"No one was more shocked than me when I walked in and saw him," she said.

She said he was taken to hospital but his condition deteriorated there and he died of a heart attack.

Medical notes from the time of his admission to hospital indicate he was suffering from conditions including severe sepsis, low blood pressure, diabetic ketoacidosis - a potentially life-threatening complication of diabetes caused by a lack of insulin in the body - and dehydration.

Mr Jones sang at the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II at Westminster Abbey in 1953 in his role as the Minster's head chorister, and he went on to direct 500 musical productions for such companies as York Light Opera Company and trained and tutored hundreds of singers.

His funeral took place in March at York Minster, where Dr Francis Jackson, a revered composer, organist and former director of music at the cathedral, played to pay tribute to him.

The Press reported in April how two care workers at Thistle Hill had been acquitted of ill-treating an elderly woman by tying a sheet across her so tightly she could not move. A jury at York Crown Court heard they did so for her safety. She had dementia and had been found standing on her bed when she should have been asleep.

The Care Quality Commission concluded in a report last December that the home was 'good,' following an unannounced inspection in November.