A care assistant has been given a suspended sentence after being convicted of assaulting an 85-year-old Salford dementia patient.
Rachel Hewitt, of Salford, pleaded not guilty to Section 39 assault but was found guilty on Thursday 29 October.
At Manchester and Salford Magistrates Court on Thursday 19 November she was sentenced to 16 weeks in jail suspended for 12 months.
The court heard that Hewitt, employed by Community Integrated Care, was assigned to care for 85-year-old May Richardson at Moores House, a 24-hour sheltered accomodation block on Cholmondeley Road in Salford.
Mrs Richardson’s husband had died in October 2014 after a long illness.
Mrs Richardson had continued to care for her husband but after his death she was diagnosed with vascular dementia and depression.
Having moved into Moores House the care plan was that carers would meet with Mrs Richardson five times a day to help with her personal care including showering and dressing.
On 31 January 2015 Rachel Hewitt was assigned to care for Mrs Richardson at her self-contained flat.
A second care worker was walking past the flat when she heard shouting, so she went indoors and witnessed Hewitt push Mrs Richardson into a shower chair with her forearm before, it was reported, grabbing her around the jaw and saying: “For **** sake sit down.”
Hewitt was challenged by her colleague who asked: “What do you think you are doing?”.
Hewitt replied, “I have never done anything like that before, I don’t know what came over me.”
She was asked to leave the building and was later suspended by her employer before being arrested on suspicion of assault.
As part of her sentence Hewitt was ordered to carry out 180 hours unpaid work and to pay £275 in costs.
Family say they saw “a drastic change” in the 85-year-old victim, that she would not eat or drink following the incident and four days later ended up being admitted to Salford Royal hospital for dehydration.
The following day she was transferred to Woodlands Hospital on Meadowsweet Lane in Little Hulton for observation where she stayed for 19 days before moving back into her daughter’s home in Salford.
David Heywood, Communications Manager at retailTRUST, which owns Moores House, said: “Following an alleged incident of assault at our cottageHOMES residence at Moores House in Salford on January 31st, Rachel Hewitt, the Care Assistant in question was immediately suspended pending the recent court case.
“The care staff at Moores House are commissioned by the local authority and are employed by Community Integrated Care and not directly by retailTRUST.
“retailTRUST, as landlords of Moores House, always expect the highest quality care and complete safety for all of their residents and staff.
“We treat our safeguarding obligations extremely seriously and constantly review procedures to minimise any risks, including those of this nature, and will continue to do so.”
Main image: May Richardson (inset) – Moores House, Salford
