Elderly man hospitalised with severe head injuries after alleged assault at Sydney dementia facility

Published: 04:33, 18 June 2026 | Updated: 04:53, 18 June 2026 An elderly man has been hospitalised with horrific injuries after allegedly being viciously attacked by another resident at an aged care facility, leaving him almost unrecognisable. John, 87, who suffers from dementia and lives at HammondCare's aged care facility in Hammondville, Sydney's south-west, was allegedly attacked on Wednesday night before being taken to Liverpool Hospital at about 9pm.  Graphic photographs taken in hospital show the pensioner covered in blood and bruises, with both eyes severely swollen, injuries across his head and face, and a neck brace supporting him as blood appears to pour from his ear onto a pillow. He was allegedly found bloodied on the veranda outside his cottage, located within the facility's secure dementia care unit, following the incident.  His shocked daughter, Margaret, who lives in Spain, said the family were in total shock. 'I've never seen anything like this before. I've never seen anybody this beat up,' she said on air. 'We're still trying to get to the bottom of it. My mother received a phone call last night at 9:31 from the night staff informing her that Dad had been hurt. An elderly man has been hospitalised with horrific injuries after allegedly being viciously attacked by another resident at an aged care facility, leaving him almost unrecognisabl 'They wanted to send him to the hospital and told Mum, no need to come, we're just going to put him in the ambulance. 'My mother, who's 85, insisted that they wait until she arrived at HammondCare at Hammondville to join my father in the ambulance.' Shocked by what she had been told, Margaret said she immediately called the aged care facility in a bid to find out what had happened to her father. 'It was the night nurse that took my phone call, and I asked what had happened to my father. 'He said that the changeover of day staff to night staff told him that they had tried to put Dad to bed four times. 'Of course, it infuriated me. That was not my question. I asked what happened to my father. 'He said that he was found on the veranda outside of his cottage, bloodied up, as you can see by those photos. The elderly man was found bloodied outside his cottage at the dementia care home  'This was not a minor altercation. This was not a push or a scuffle. This was an assault that had to have taken numerous amount of time for this to occur. 'The night nurse told me that another resident had an altercation with my father.' The distraught daughter said she is now demanding answers from HammondCare. 'I have emailed the dementia supervisor and I have also emailed the person who oversees HammondCare and I have not received a response yet but in my email I have requested a full investigation' she said. 'I have asked for them to retain all documentation and any logs that exist, so we can have the full documents. 'We want to know what happened.' HammondCare released a statement confirming it had commenced an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the alleged assault. 'We are extremely sorry and deeply saddened that this has occurred,' HammondCare Executive General Manager Jenny Summerton said. 'Police were notified immediately of the assault and the family were also informed. 'The cottage is one of 30 SDCP cottages nationally that provide specialist care to people with very severe behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia. 'These are residents assessed as unable to be cared for in mainstream aged care settings.' The statement added that a Serious Incident Report would be provided to the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission later on Thursday. According to the HammondCare website, its Hammondville facility includes one of the only purpose-built villages for dementia care in the Liverpool area. The village features small, home-like cottages surrounded by gardens and incorporates design principles intended to help residents maintain their independence. No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.