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Two night-shift nurses are caught on camera sound asleep at a care home – after turning off patient alarms to slumber undisturbed.

This shocking photo was taken by their boss, who checked on them at 3am and watched them sleep for another half hour while 19 vulnerable residents aged 75 to 100 were left unable to call for help.

Titilayo Ajala, 56, and Henretta Offae, 41, were sacked on the spot and are now on trial facing neglect charges against the 17 women and two men.

Aylesbury Crown Court heard how they disabled alarms and shoved extra incontinence pads under OAPs so they would not be disturbed while working on the 9pm-7am shift.

Prosecutor Neil Moore said they also failed to put a more absorbent type of night pads on the patients at midnight as required.

The patients’ pads had not been changed since the afternoon so were “soaked with urine and in one case faeces”.

“They neglected each and every resident,” Mr Moore told the court.

“Many were ­considered to be at a very high risk of falling due to mobility issues. Fall mats were put by the side of beds... so if a resident was to fall out of bed in the middle of the night they would put pressure on the pressure pads.

“That would trigger an alarm system which would ring around the home to indicate there was a problem.

"Eleven pressure mat alarms had been disabled so if anyone had fallen in the night they would not have been found until the defendants woke up.”

The pair worked as care home assistants at Westlands in Olney, Milton Keynes.

The home is run by St Andrews Care Home Ltd, which charges £580 per patient per week.

After finding the women sleeping, their manager Salina Ballard woke them after 30 minutes by saying, “Good morning ladies” quite loudly.

Mr Moore went on: “Ms Ajala jumped up and said: ‘My God Salina, what are you doing here? You have to forgive me.’

"Ms Offae said: ‘I hold my hands up – you caught me. What we have done is inexcusable’.”

Mrs Ballard told the court: “It amounts to gross misconduct. We’re responsible for our ­residents’ well-being.”

Ajala of Milton Keynes, and Offae, of Derby, deny all charges. The trial continues.