A REWARD offered by a Hampshire couple searching for justice more than two-and-a-half years after an elderly great-grandmother’s death, has been doubled.

Ethel Baldwin’s daughter Yvonne, 72, and her husband Bert Curtis had originally offered £5,000 for any information leading to a successful prosecution for assault, which they say led to the death.

Now this offer has been raised to £10,000 by Ethel’s elder daughter, Jacqueline Sampson, 74, who lives in Perth, Australia. Jacqueline was sent an email of the Daily Echo article by her sister Yvonne and replied that she would match her reward.

Yvonne said: “My sister wants to double the reward for any information leading to a successful conviction. She wants justice for mum as much as I do. She’s just as keen to get this person convicted as I am.”

Yvonne added: “She is as concerned as I am that this person is still at large. It may happen to another elderly person. We both feel it is important the attacker is brought to justice.”

Last month an inquest at Winchester Coroner's Court into the death of Ethel, also known as Joyce, heard that she died two weeks after an incident at Abbey House Nursing Home in Netley in 2014.

Following Mrs Baldwin’s death, police opened a murder inquiry but although the Crown Prosecution Service was satisfied that her injuries were not accidental, the investigation was later dropped.

The original inquest was opened on October 3 that year, yet the final hearing was not until April this year.

Mrs Baldwin, who suffered from dementia, sustained bruises to her neck and cuts to her face on August 29, 2014, which resulted in the nursing home contacting police.

The 96-year-old great-grandmother later died at the home on September 13.

The inquest, at which Mr and Mrs Curtis were not allowed to speak, concluded that Mrs Baldwin died of natural causes. However, the family believes the assault was a contributory factor in her death.

Yvonne Curtis said: “My husband Bert and I used to visit her and she would look at whomever spoke and smiled when her great-grandchildren came to see her.

“We used to tell her what was going on with the family and she would look at us. But afterwards her eyes were unresponsive and didn’t focus.”

At the time of the inquest, Winchester Coroner’s Court heard from forensic pathologist Dr Deborah Cook who said the injuries had no causal link to her death which was a result of natural causes.

The senior coroner Grahame Short described it as “not a straightforward case”, but concluded Mrs Baldwin was frail, bed-bound with severe dementia and had reached the end of her life.