Caught on camera, dementia patient's abuse by care staff: Family of 89-year-old hid CCTV device in her room



Daughter captured five days of abuse on camera concealed in alarm clock



Her mother, a dementia sufferer, was dragged across floor and threatened

Carer Emma Bryan, 29, called victim 'horrible old lady' and 'nasty old cow'



Katherine Wallis, 45, given 12-month community order for ill-treatment



'This will never leave our memories,' said family of elderly victim

When the family of an 89-year-old woman feared she was being mistreated in her care home, they hid a small CCTV camera in an alarm clock to check up on her.

And their worst worries came true when two carers were caught on camera committing 'sickening' acts of verbal and physical abuse, a court heard yesterday.

Ivy Robinson, who has dementia, was hit, shaken, sworn at, dragged across the bedroom floor and not given the correct doses of her medication by the staff who were supposed to be looking after her.

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Abuse: CCTV captures Ivy Robinson, 89, being dragged from a chair to her bed as she looks in pain. Ivy was subjected to a catalogue of abuse by her carers before her family captured her mistreatment on a hidden camera The shocking footage led to senior carer Emma Bryan, 29, and colleague Katherine Wallis, 45, being arrested for the appalling acts of neglect. Yesterday Bryan was jailed for four months at Leeds Crown Court and Wallis given a 12-month community order after admitting mistreating Mrs Robinson at Oakfoss House Residential Care Home in Pontefract, West Yorkshire, last November. Passing sentence, Judge Guy Kearl, QC, told them: 'This neglect and ill-treatment is unforgivable and unacceptable.

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Pensioner-bashing thug who was freed by magistrates because... Share this article Share 'You failed to accord for the respect and dignity of this respectful and elderly lady.' The judge said the victim's daughter, Angela Wood, 'had believed she had placed her mother in a safe environment' and it 'turned out to be anything but'. Richard Butters, prosecuting, told the court the footage captured over a five-day period showed Mrs Robinson was subjected to an array of 'utterly undignified' treatment. Mrs Robinson had lived at the home for six years and Mrs Wood had given up her job to help the care home staff look after her.

Tormented: The dementia sufferer closes her eyes in pain as she is pulled up by one of the carers from a chair

Emma Bryan, right, and Katherine Wallis, left, are captured drag-lifting Ivy Robinson across her bedroom floor. Ivy was made to scream in pain before Wallis threatened her with violence

However, Mrs Wood and her husband Simon were worried about bruises on her mother's hands and the fact she became 'distressed' when they left in the evening. Mrs Robinson often cried and asked her daughter not to go.

To allay their suspicions Mr Wood set up the spy camera in his mother-in-law's bedroom and the damning footage showed:

■ Both Bryan and Wallis dragging Mrs Robinson from a chair to her bed, with the pensioner 'shrieking' as they did it;

■ Mrs Robinson being called a 'horrible old lady', a 'silly old t***' and a 'nasty old cow' by Bryan;

■ The same carer striking Mrs Robinson on the hand and shaking her before telling her to 'p*** off'.

Mr Butters said the footage showed both carers manhandling Mrs Robinson 'in a totally unauthorised manner', using a banned method of lifting.

A training instructor was shown the video and what she saw left her 'completely shocked' and 'physically upset'.

'In her opinion this was the worst case of ill treatment and neglect and abuse of trust that she has ever seen in her years in this profession,' he added.

Mr Butters told the court Mrs Robinson's daughter 'is sickened and horrified by the treatment administered to her mother', adding: 'She can't stop thinking about it, she often bursts into tears.'



Carer Katherine Wallace leaving court after being sentenced (left) and Emma Bryan (right), jailed for failing to administer medication in an approved manner and ill treatment of a patient



Bryan admitted four counts of wrongly administering medicine. Both women, from Pontefract, also admitted one charge of ill-treatment. They have been placed on the Independent Safeguarding List, stopping them from working with vulnerable adults again. Matthew Harding, for Bryan, said his client 'recognises that her behaviour was disgraceful'.

Stephen Swan, for Wallis, said she also regretted her actions.

Judge Kearl told them: 'This lady doesn't seem to have caused you any problems at all, which makes this treatment seem somewhat gratuitous. You've known perfectly well that what you were doing was simply wrong.'



Vulnerable: Ivy Robinson (pictured) was subjected to neglect and ill-treatment at the hands of her carers

Captured: Bryan stands over Ivy Robinson menacingly as she looks in distress in her bedroom in the care home

Helpless: Emma Bryan can be seen administering drugs and slapping the back of the hand of Ivy Robinson and calling her a silly old t*** and telling her to p*** off

Oakfoss House residential home in Pontefract, where the catalogue of abuse took place

Daughter Angela Wood and her husband Simon are pictured leaving court after the verdict. Mrs Wood installed the camera to capture the abuse after she thought something was wrong

After the case Mrs Wood said: 'It is difficult to describe the effect this abuse has had on Mum.

'This will never leave our memories. Moreover, we feel as though we have let Mum down.'

She said the decision to install a camera was a 'last resort' and followed 'various incidents over a period of months that could not be explained' by care home staff.

Mrs Wood added: 'No one knows how long this abuse and neglect had been going on for. We hope that other families can learn from Mum's ordeal and be aware of certain signs.

'Just because someone has dementia does not mean that they do not know what is going on. Please listen to them and act.'

The family are now moving Mrs Robinson from the care home to give her 'the care she deserves.'

Oakfoss House is a 22-bedroom home for the elderly and those with dementia. The fees are £402 per week, which were met by social services in the case of Mrs Robinson, a mother-of-two, whose other daughter died in 1999.

Gaynor Saunders, managing director of care home owners Denestar Ltd, said: 'I was devastated to learn that two longstanding, experienced employees who'd been given extensive training in caring for and safeguarding elderly and vulnerable people had behaved in such an abhorrent way. Words cannot express how sorry I am.'

WARNING GRAPHIC CONTENT - Wallis and Bryan "draglifting" Ivy Robinson