Carer guilty of assault

AN agency worker who was employed as a carer at St John of God Services centre at Drumcar has been found guilty of assaulting a ‘vulnerable resident’ after four other carers said they saw her slap him on the forearm.

But Toyin Oresanya (44), Elm Park, Johnstown, Navan, denied she had assaulted the service user, saying she put her hand on his wrist to stop him throwing something at a patient who had already been hit with a tambourine during an incident at the music room at the Drumcar centre on February 16 2015.

The court heard a social worker had taken the case on behalf of the resident.

A care worker told Judge Flann Brennan that after the resident who was being looked after by Oresanya had thrown a piece of paper, she saw the defendant get up and hit him on the forearm.

She said it was done with ‘moderate force’ with an open hand. The witness challenged Oresanya over it and the incident was reported to management.

When the barrister James Egan put it to her that another resident had been distressed after being hit with tambourine, and the resident in Oresanya’s care had become agitated, the woman said she didn’t seen that.

A second care worker said the resident she was looking after hit another with a tambourine, and she saw Oresanya stand up and say to the victim: ‘no, no, no’.

The witness described it as ‘medium force’ on the resident’s wrists.

Mr Egan said the complainant had thrown paper at another carer, and he was preparing to throw another when his client intervened to stop him. The witness said just one piece of paper had been thrown.

A third care worker said the defendant had slapped the resident twice on the lower forearm and told him to stop and said she hadn’t seen a second piece of paper.

A fourth witness said she’d seen Oresanya hit the resident on the back of his forearm ‘ three or four times with medium force’. She agreed with Mr Egan there was no malice involved, and Oresanya was trying to stop her patient from throwing another piece of paper.

Oresanya gave evidence of working with the resident for nine months, sand was adamant she was ‘only trying to stop him from hitting the agitated resident again’.

Mr Egan said a not guilty verdict was appropriate as there was no malice or intent to cause injury and Oresanya was acting to stop a resident from throwing another piece of paper, while using reasonable force .

Inspector Martin Beggy argued Oresanya was in charge of a vulnerable adult and four people had said there was a double impact on his wrist as a form of chastisement.

Judge Brennan said he had heard all the evidence in the case and the central point is the kind of force used.

He said evidence had been given that the slaps given were ‘corrective, to look at it at its most benign’ and he had to convict.

Mr Egan said his client is a mother of two who works in the care sector. Judge Brennan said he wanted to see a probation report and adjourned the case to November 16.