London - A man was on Thursday questioned on suspicion of killing his grandmother in her care home.
The home went into lockdown after the 90-year-old was seriously injured on Wednesday.
The pensioner was pronounced dead at the scene and her 32-year-old grandson was arrested shortly afterwards.
Police were called to Forest Place Nursing Home in Buckhurst Hill, Essex, on Wednesday afternoon.
The home, which cares for dementia patients and elderly people with learning difficulties, is set in landscaped gardens and on a road where Rolls-Royces and Porsches sit in the driveways of £1million homes.
A dog walker, who asked not to be named, said: "This is quite an affluent area. I can’t believe this happened here."
It was not clear on Thursday night who was present when the woman died but the home said ‘measures were put in place to safeguard’ those in its care.
A spokesperson added it had been ‘a traumatic experience for all of us’.
Detectives were interviewing the grandson, who lives in Ilford, East London, on Thursday.
The nursing home, which offers palliative care, looks after up to 90 residents.
It was placed in special measures last year following a Care Quality Commission (CQC) investigation, which judged the service to be inadequate.
The CQC inspection found staff failed to store medicine safely, kept dead people’s clothes in a resident’s wardrobe, and left soiled sheets on beds.
It also found patients were not protected from harm and not always treated with care or respect.
Other unsafe practices noted by the CQC included patients being lifted dangerously, fire doors being left wedged open, broken beds left out and very hot water being accessible to people with dementia.
Despite the death, bosses said the home was operating as normal, and counselling was being made available to everyone affected.
In a statement, they said: "A tragic incident occurred within the home which resulted in the death of a resident. The incident was immediately reported to Essex Police and measures were put in place to safeguard other residents within the home. Our thoughts are with the family of the resident."
They added: "We would like to thank Essex Police for the sensitive way in which they conducted their initial inquiries, which minimised the disruption of care delivery to other residents within the home and we continue to support them with their investigation."
"This has been a traumatic experience for all of us at Forest Place and we would like to thank Essex County Council for their support and offer of counselling."
A spokesperson for Essex Police said: "We were contacted with reports a woman in her 90s had suffered serious injuries at Forest Place Nursing Home. She was pronounced dead at the scene."
"A 32-year-old man from Ilford has been arrested on suspicion of murder and is currently in custody for questioning. We can confirm the victim and the suspect were known to each other."