A WARNING has been issued over the welfare of elderly women in local care homes after an injunction was issued against a Donaghadee man for harassing an 89 year-old woman with dementia.
The family of the octogenarian took action against Robert Stephenson Maltman (77), of The Parade, who was described by a judge as a ‘parasite’ and warned he faced prison if he tried to contact the woman again.
The defendant’s legal team agreed to the granting of the Injunction Order, which is for an unlimited duration.
The behaviour of the man is said to be part of a trend of men ‘grooming’ elderly and vulnerable women at care homes, according to an official from a local residential home for the elderly.
The caring professional said she had been made aware of a number of ‘similar scenarios’ of men approaching elderly women in an effort to dupe them with false romances to inveigle their way into their lives and their finances.
The Spectator has been told that as a result of the Maltman case, the PSNI is to contact care homes and banks to raise awareness of the dangers around the grooming of elderly, vulnerable women.
In the case against Maltman, heard on Monday, January 26, District Judge Ruth Collins said he had ‘deeply concerning parasitic tendencies’ and cited a social worker’s report which described Maltman as a ‘dangerous individual’ and who had recommended the seeking of an injunction.
Maltman has a criminal conviction for stalking which resulted in him receiving a two year conditional discharge at Ards Magistrates’ Court in 2024.
The case in January was brought by the elderly woman’s daughter, Mrs Michelle Brooks, who presented a signed affidavit showing that the High Court’s Office of Care and Protection (OCP) had deemed her mother ‘incapable of managing her property and affairs by reason of a mental disorder’, in May 2025.
She said Maltman had begun to ‘become a nuisance’, promising a romance with her mother and trying to acquire controllership over her – which would make him manager of her finances and property.
Maltman’s behaviour prompted the OPC to authorise Mrs Brooks to issue proceedings under the Protection of Harassment (NI) Order 1987 against him.
Her affidavit said that following a dementia diagnosis in 2021 her mother’s health had deteriorated, leaving her with ‘limited memory and no insight as to her own safety and wellbeing’.
It stated that the local Health Trust was ‘very concerned about the safety and wellbeing of my mother due to the actions of the defendant’.
In her evidence to Judge Collins, Mrs Brooks reported that her mother had been found on the grounds of the care home ‘handing the defendant her passport, bank details and clothes’. When the police were alerted by a social worker, they retrieved the items from the defendant’s house.
She said Maltman also acquired the woman’s keys to an apartment where she had previously resided, where there was a ‘large sum of money and jewellery’ and maintained he was seen there on his own in February last year.
Appealing for the judge’s intervention, Mrs Brooks said: “He clearly has a strong influence over my mother and I am very concerned that he is manipulating and pestering her.”
She had feared her mother would come to actual harm, outlining a situation when Maltman ‘punched’ a member of her family, prompting the police to issue a Community Resolution Notice.
“It concerns me that the defendant has a propensity to violence,” said Mrs Brooks.
“I am extremely concerned about the safety of my mother and I believe that she is at risk from the defendant in many ways,” she told the court.
She also advised the judge that a third party may have been trying to keep ‘tabs on her mother’ on Maltman’s behalf.
Addressing Maltman, Judge Collins said if he made any future contact, personally, or by someone acting on his behalf, ‘you are going to find yourself in prison, as it will be a contempt of court’.
“I am not wearing my wig and gown, but I have the full power to imprison you immediately. You would be taken out of this court room and brought to prison,” the judge told him.
Speaking to the Spectator, Mrs Brooks said her mother was now in a different care home.
“She’s in a secure dementia unit and they are very aware of what’s going on and will keep her safe.”
The Spectator asked the PSNI if they were investigating Maltman. A spokesman said ‘we don’t comment on named individuals and as such we’re unable to respond’.
