Court is told camera captured care worker assaulting 'extremely vulnerable' patient

Alexandra McKenna-Roy (26), formerly with a Randalstown address but now of Limetree Close in Antrim town, admitted a charge of assault.

A prosecutor told Antrim Magistrates Court, sitting in Ballymena, that on March 19 this year the defendant was working alone as a care assistant travelling to patients' homes.

The victim was described as "extremely vulnerable" and a prosecutor said is "completely reliant on his family and carers to fulfil his daily needs".

The court was told he had a spinal issue as well as dementia and had "limited cognitive functioning and limited communication". The prosecutor said a camera had been installed to allow family members to "monitor the care of their father". The lawyer said the defendant attended the victim's home and "started to feed him a yoghurt while also being distracted by watching television".

He said the camera appeared to show the victim starting to eat, but becoming "irritated", and the defendant "aggressively wiped his face before abruptly shoving him onto his bed" causing "instant pain" which could be seen on his face.

The prosecutor said the assault was only discovered when his "family returned home" and the "written records for this date appeared to be completely blank".

The footage was then viewed "to ensure that people actually turned up on the day in question". The prosecutor said the defendant had "recorded" that the victim had been "aggressive" to her "but she had failed to document that it was her actions that caused this".

He said the care given "fell far below what would be expected of a careful and competent care assistant". He said there had been "inexcusable and unjustified use of force" in reaction "to the victim making a mess effectively, in his own home and perhaps not enjoying the food that he was given".

When interviewed, the court heard, the defendant was "remorseful," and said she was "not caring for herself and should not have been in work caring for others".

District Judge Nigel Broderick viewed the footage.

A defence lawyer said the defendant had been "relocated" to work in a kitchen and later "resigned". He said McKenna-Roy had suffered "the loss of her mother and then the very tragic loss of her father only a short time prior to this".

The barrister said the defendant was working extra hours to help her daughter and although it was "no excuse" she was "phenomenally fatigued" and "context is everything". He said the defendant "would like to apologise to this man and his family."

The lawyer said it had been a "one-off incident" for which she was "eternally regretful". He said the defendant is now on benefits but is involved in the "equine industry" and hopes in the future to be able to use "horses with a view to therapeutic work with children and people who struggle with various learning issues through to adult life".

Judge Broderick said the victim's family were "disappointed" the care company had provided a "reference" for the defendant but had "not taken the time" to apologise to them.

He told McKenna-Roy: "The victim was severely disabled and you were there to provide important care to him and he was wholly at your mercy, he was totally vulnerable.

"I accept that those who have to look after and care for people in that condition face a great degree of stress on occasions and it appears from the footage and from the documents that I have read that this was a lapse in control.

"It appears to be a combination of treating him roughly in terms of cleaning his mouth after he was taking his food and then you have pushed him quite aggressively back into the bed and it is quite clear that the victim, despite all his difficulties, recognised that this was something that shouldn't have happened and he, understandably, lashed out in defence of himself."

Judge Broderick said the defendant had a clear record and no longer worked as a carer.

He said it had been an "abhorrent" assault when the defendant had a "momentary loss of control" which "in no way condones it".

The judge handed down a four months prison sentence, suspended for three years, and also ordered McKenna-Roy to pay £500 compensation to the victim.