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Hillcroft nursing home carers jailed for abusing elderly residents
Hillcroft nursing home carers jailed for abusing elderly residents
(about 3 hours later)
Weak and inadequate management led to the "gratuitous sport" of mistreatment of elderly dementia sufferers at a nursing home, a judge has said.
Three nursing home staff have been jailed and a fourth given a community sentence for tormenting and abusing elderly residents with dementia, actions described by the trial judge as "gratuitous sport at the expense of vulnerable victims".
Residents at Hillcroft nursing home in Slyne-with-Hest, Lancaster, were mocked, bullied and tormented because they would have no memory of the abuse, with one man having his foot stamped on deliberately and another nearly tipped out of his wheelchair.
The court heard residents at Hillcroft nursing home in Slyne-with-Hest, Lancashire, were pelted with bean bags, mocked and bullied on the assumption their condition meant they would not remember the abuse. One man's foot was deliberately stamped on and another was nearly tipped out of his wheelchair.
In November, Carol Ann Moore, 54, Katie Cairns, 27, and Gemma Pearson, 28, were found guilty by a jury at Preston crown court of ill-treatment or neglect of a person who lacks capacity, under the Mental Capacity Act, after a four-week trial.
During the sentencing hearing at Preston crown court the son of one resident said the family viewed the decision to place him at Hillcroft as the "worst of our lives" and believed managers covered up the incidents.
On Friday, Moore was jailed for four months, Cairns was jailed for five months, and Smith was imprisoned for eight months.
The judge, Michael Byrne, said the actions of Darren Smith, 35, Carol Ann Moore, 54, Katie Cairns, 27, and Gemma Pearson, 28, were "an indictment" of the home's managers.
Pearson was given a 12-month community order with supervision and told to carry out 40 hours of unpaid work.
He said: "Much evidence in the trial revealed that there was, at the relevant times, a lax regime with weak and inadequate management on the unit which allowed the kind of conduct to carry on undetected and without proper and adequate control." He added: "Some of the offences were gratuitous sport at the expense of vulnerable victims."
She was told that she would have gone to jail if she had succeeded in tipping the patient out of the wheelchair.
Smith, who admitted eight counts of ill-treating people with impaired mental capacity, was jailed for eight months. The other three staff were found guilty of the same offence in November. Cairns was jailed for five months and Moore for four months. Pearson was given a 12-month community order and told to carry out 40 hours of unpaid work.
Moore, the care-team leader from Lancaster, was found guilty of one count in which she struck a resident on the unit for residents with "challenging behaviour".
The offences took place between May 2010 and September 2011, when a receptionist and a cleaner told managers that Moore had struck a resident, and raised other concerns. The four were suspended, but later reinstated with warnings.
The court heard she walked up to the male victim and slapped him after a complaint was made from the man's wife about a lack of activities at the home.
Managers decided there was insufficient evidence to mount a wider investigation or pass on the complaints to social services, the court heard. When local authority staff visited the home, managers did not mention the staff suspensions.
Cairns, from Morecambe, was convicted of three charges including stamping on a man's foot, throwing bean bags at another male and mocking another.
Later, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) received anonymous emails about the home. The four were arrested in October 2012 when Lancashire County Council told police about the complaints and a full inquiry began.
Pearson, of Carnforth, was also convicted of attempting to tip another resident out of his wheelchair.
Initially, all the defendants insisted they had done nothing wrong, blaming office politics and cliques among staff.
Darren Smith, 35, from Lancaster, admitted ahead of the trial eight counts of ill-treatment in which he threw bean bags or balls at eight residents.
After the sentencing Detective Chief Inspector Andy Hulme described the actions as "utterly contemptible". He said: "I would once again like to take this opportunity to commend those members of staff who displayed great courage and decency in speaking out against this despicable behaviour. This couldn't have been an easy thing for them to do, but what I must emphasise is the families' gratitude towards them for coming forward."
All the offences spanned from May 2010 – September 2011 and related to seven men and one woman, all aged in their 70s or 80s, with the eldest aged 85.
Michael Rowlinson, whose father, Norman, was placed in Hillcroft because he had Alzheimer's, read a statement from the witness box. He said: "We had feelings of guilt for not being able to look after him. Our feelings of guilt only worsened when we found out that Dad had been subjected to humiliation and ill-treatment by those who were trusted to care for him.
Sentencing them, Judge Michael Byrne said: "Much evidence in the trial revealed that there was, at the relevant times, a lax regime with weak and inadequate management on the unit which allowed the kind of conduct to carry on undetected and without proper and adequate control."
"We feel angry this could have been allowed to happen to Dad and sorry that Mum had to learn about it."
He said the offences committed were "an indictment" on Hillcroft management. "A lack of proper management allowed a culture to develop where conduct of this sort was allowed to carry on," he said.
Judge Byrne said three common themes emerged from the statements given by families.
He continued: "Some of the offences were gratuitous sport at the expense of of vulnerable victims. Each of these defendants broke the trust placed in them."
He said: "In each and every case the victim's family trusted the home to look after their relative. Secondly, many of the families felt a sense of guilt of having to give up the care of one of their family to be cared for by strangers. And thirdly, the anger and resentment at the trust being betrayed."
A receptionist and a cleaner both reported to management that Moore had struck a resident, among other concerns about staff behaviour in September 2011. The defendants were suspended but then reinstated weeks later. They were all given warnings, moved from the unit and demoted, apart from Cairns.
Smith constantly described one colleague as a "grass" and was "obstructive and rude" when he was sent on a retraining course. Management at the home in Slyne-with-Hest ruled there was insufficent evidence for a wider investigation and failed to pass on the complaints to social services.
When social services finally did visit the home, management told staff not to mention the earlier suspensions. In December 2011 and January and March 2012, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) received anonymous emails about the home.
In May 2012, Lancashire county council's adult services social care department made police aware of a complaint of ill-treatment and a multi-agency inquiry began. The defendants were arrested in October 2012 and told police they were not responsible for any abuse. They blamed office politics, cliques in work and infighting between staff for the claims of abuse and denied all the charges.
Following the convictions, the families of the victims said they thought there had been failings by the owners and management of Hillcroft, Lancashire county council adult services, NHS Lancashire and the CQC. They said that families, in particular those with relatives in challenging behaviour units, should be able to contribute to periodic reviews of standards.
Relatives of the victims spoke of their heartbreak and anger in victim impact statements read to the court. One son of a victim chose to enter the witness box to give his statement in person. Michael Rowlinson said his family's decision to place his father, Norman, a retired chartered surveyor, into care was the "worst day of our lives".
He said that decision was not taken lightly because his father, married for 57 years, had Alzheimer's and was unable to give his opinion. He said: "We had feelings of guilt for not being able to look after him.
"Our feelings of guilt only worsened when we found out that Dad had been subjected to humiliation and ill-treatment by those who were trusted to care for him. We feel angry this could have been allowed to happen to Dad and sorry that Mum had to learn about it."
He said evidence heard at the trial had "saddened us greatly". "The experience has broken down our trust," he continued. "We will always wish that we would have been able to look after Dad at home." He asked for the sentences to reflect the crimes committed against "vulnerable people who could not stand up for themselves".
Rowlinson said a clear signal had to be sent by the courts that such behaviour could not be tolerated. He asked: "What sort of human being treats another with such disrespect?" He added that he thought it was clear that management at Hillcroft had covered up the incidents and that they and the owners had failed to ensure the safety of the residents.
Rowlinson said he did not believe the CQC had held Hillcroft to account. He said he was still awaiting formal apologies from the defendants and Hillcroft's management and directors.
Byrne said three common themes emerged from the statements given by families. "In each and every case the victim's family trusted the home to look after their relative. Secondly, many of the families felt a sense of guilt of having to give up the care of one of their family to be cared for by strangers. And thirdly, the anger and resentment at the trust being betrayed."
The defendants all worked the day shift on the Coniston unit at the home, which housed residents diagnosed with dementia and displaying challenging behaviour, the court heard.
Opening the case, Kathryn Johnson, prosecuting, told the court the four defendants ill-treated residents in "varying ways". She said: "They mocked them, bullied them and on occasions deliberately assaulted them."
Johnson said bean bags should have been used as part of recreational therapy but they were thrown so hard and fast that residents were unable to catch them. "This caused frustration and anger in the residents, whereas the defendants would laugh," she said.
Smith and Moore would say "they were doing it for their entertainment as they were bored" and if residents objected they "would be subjected to it all the more".
Evidence was heard that on one occasion Smith was discovered in bed with a resident and another male member of staff. Pearson was seen to tip a resident out of his wheelchair when he failed to stand up, causing him to stumble.
The court heard that Pearson also took "great delight" in going behind residents and blowing in their ears.
Detective Chief Inspector Andy Hulme, of Lancashire constabulary, said: "Darren Smith, Katie Cairns, Gemma Pearson and Carol Moore showed complete disregard for the wellbeing of the people they had been entrusted to care for.
"Further to that, their ill-treatment was directed at some of the most vulnerable members of our community – these people couldn't speak out or defend themselves. Their behaviour was utterly contemptible and I can only hope they will now reflect on their actions and see just how cowardly their conduct was.
"I don't believe that the behaviour shown by Smith, Cairns, Pearson and Moore is a true reflection of the majority of staff at Hillcroft, and I am satisfied that the care home in Slyne-with-Hest is now a completely different environment."
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