Carer spared jail after attacking 85-year-old

A CARE worker who abused an 85-yearold dementia sufferer has walked free from court – a decision branded ‘an insult’ by the victim’s daughter.

Rachel Hewitt, 30, was seen by a colleague pushing May Richardson on to a shower chair, grabbing her by the jaw and swearing at her in her sheltered accommodation flat in Salford, Manchester magistrates were told.

The grandmother-of-five went dramatically downhill after the appalling incident, her family revealed, and Hewitt was reported to police.

By the following morning, Mrs Richardson’s condition had deteriorated ‘drastically’, her family said, and she spent nearly three weeks in hospital. Hewitt, from Salford, was reported to police and found guilty of common assault after a trial earlier this month.

She was sentenced to 16 weeks in prison, suspended for 12 months, and ordered to do 180 hours’ unpaid work as well as pay £5 compensation a week.

Mrs Richardson’s daughter Jane Galbraith said: ‘I think she should have gone straight to prison. Quite frankly, it’s an insult.’ Community Integrated Care, which employed Hewitt, said she had been suspended as soon as the alarm was raised. Hewitt now faces dismissal.