A female carer who pinned a 90-year-old dementia sufferer to the ground and hit him repeatedly in the face at a care home has been jailed for two years and eight months.
Suzanne Edmondson, 49, was spotted by a shocked member of staff battering the frail pensioner in his room at Chasewood Care Home, in Exhall, Coventry , West Mids.
A court heard she was swearing at the patient while restraining him on the floor before threatening to put him outside in the rain when he got to his feet.
The other member of staff then ran to raise the alarm but on return found the resident with an injury to his eye where Edmondson claimed he had fallen.
The pensioner was taken to hospital where he was found to have suffered a black eye, a cut above his left eye, bruising to both arms and swollen fingers.
He later confided to his family that he had been slapped, thrown onto the floor and assaulted by the defendant on February 6.
The care home worker was arrested two days later and charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm and ill-treatment of a patient.
Edmondson, from Bedworth, Warks., pleaded guilty to both offences and at Warwick Crown Court yesterday (Mon) was jailed for two years and eight months.
After the case Kerry Moreton, Senior Crown Prosecutor for West Midlands Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), said: “Today’s sentencing is important.
“It demonstrates that the CPS places victims at the heart of the criminal justice system.
“Targeting someone because they are older makes a crime even more serious, so it is important that we bring these people to justice – whether they be strangers, carers, as in this case, or family members.
“Suzanne Edmondson was employed to care for vulnerable elderly adults, however, she abused her position of trust and violently attacked a resident at the care home, the very people she should have been trying to protect.
“This prosecution was made possible by another member of staff who saw the assault being prepared to make a statement and give evidence.
“It is important that care homes and other institutions provide an environment where employees are not afraid to speak out when they witness abuse such as this, to ensure offenders can be brought to justice.
“Living free from crime is a basic human right and today I urge any older people suffering criminal mistreatment to be confident that the CPS understands the serious nature of these crimes, and to report them to police.”
Yesterday afternoon the manager of the care home, who did not give her name, said: “We do not want to say anything more than we are glad that the appropriate sentence has been handed down.”
