Nastiest man in the world
After victim tells of horror at hands of care home boss, shocking abuse by 13 staff who locked residents up, bound them and dragged them along floor is revealed
THEY were paid millions to care for some of the most vulnerable adults in society – but instead abusive Atlas bosses and their staff locked them in punishment rooms.
As their crimes were detailed in court over the past year, they showed a sickening lack of remorse, boasting of enjoying debauched nights out and holidays.
Six of the 13 convicted avoided months of trial hearings by pleading guilty.
However, their traumatised victims – seven adults with severe learning disabilities – were forced to relive their ordeal as they gave evidence in court in front of their families.
Here we profile some of the defendants who made care home residents’ lives hell:
DRAGGED WOMAN 15FT ALONG THE GROUND
ATLAS director Jolyon Marshall was called ‘the nastiest man in the world’ in court.
Marshall, 42, posted a picture of himself and his wife Rachel, 32, enjoying a glorious day at sea in November 2012 – just as the care homes he ran were being closed down.
They worked for the firm and admitted conspiracy to detain and imprison residents. The Marshalls married after the scandal came to light, and have since boasted of debauched parties, had a baby and opened a catering business.
Bristol Crown Court heard how Marshall, who part owned Atlas, dragged a vulnerable 44-year-old woman 15ft along the ground by the wrist to lock her in a punishment room.
One victim in his fifties with a low IQ and epilepsy said: ‘He was what I would call the nastiest person you could ever come across. If you didn’t do what he wanted you got put in the quiet room. He was just vindictive.’
Marshall also tried to frame a resident, convincing him to ‘ escape’ through a window, before throwing a fire extinguisher at a door to damage it, then calling police to blame him and have him arrested. The judge described this as ‘disgraceful’.
His wife was deputy manager at the Veilstone home in Bideford, Devon. Ten days before the trials they had a party she called ‘the best night ever’ on Facebook. Soon after, she boasted of having ‘the most amazing massage’ and two days before the trial, she told how Marshall was so drunk he couldn’t recognise her.
Marshall was initially sentenced to 18 months in prison but this was increased to 28 months after the Attorney General decided his sentence was too lenient. His wife received an eight-month sentence, suspended for two years.
TRIED TO TAKE £2M FROM AXED FIRM
MULTI-millionaire Atlas owner Paul Hewitt said he and his wife were owed money by the homes when they were closed in 2012.
The greed was discovered while the firm was being wound down.
Hewitt, 71, who started Atlas in 1993, was found guilty of failing to discharge a duty in relation to the care of residents in his homes.
He was fined £12,500 and ordered to pay £105,000 prosecution costs, with the judge saying he ‘had the power and influence to intervene but chose not to do so’.
Hewitt built a multi-millionpound fortune through Atlas Project Team, which had an annual turnover of around £5million. His wife Lesley, 70, and sons Craig, 45, and Russell, 43, also had shares, with the family owning 80 per cent of the business.
While vulnerable residents at the homes were forced to sleep in freezing punishment rooms, the Hewitts lived a life of luxury in a £1.2million country mansion in a 14-acre estate overlooking Dartmoor National Park. The care home company was wound down with debts of £5.5million after the abuse of residents was reported. A High Court document describes how the owners tried to profit from the firm’s closure. A director appointed during the liquidation of the company stated that a liability had appeared on documents suggesting Hewitt should be paid £1.5million when the firm was wound down.
But the director insisted this should be ‘set aside’ and Hewitt did not receive the money.
It was also noted that £300,000 had disappeared from the firm between February and August 2012 – money that was supposed to be used to pay off debts.
The document states: ‘ The shareholders have withdrawn dividends from the company. This appears to have been carried out in the full knowledge that the company would be facing cash flow difficulties.’
The director said the withdrawal was ‘totally inappropriate’ and called for the money to be repaid – although it is not known whether this has happened.
BULLY TIED WOMAN UP WITH JUMPER
CARE home boss Tim Stevens lives with his wife and children in a secluded five-bedroom house in the north Devon village of Buckland Brewer.
But his idyllic home life is a marked contrast to the cramped punishment room in the care home he ran 13 miles away. Stevens, 46, oversaw the terrifying regime at Gatooma in Holsworthy. A 45-year-old female resident with epilepsy told the court that he used to sit on her legs in the punishment room, twist her arm, and restrain her using a jumper until she stopped trying to move.
She would then scream if she needed the toilet. ‘If they didn’t take me I would have an accident and wet myself,’ she said. ‘I was left in wet trousers.’
The mother of another female resident described him as a bully.
Stevens admitted conspiring to injure, detain and imprison five residents and was given a tenmonth suspended sentence, with 150 hours of unpaid work.
PUNISHED WOMAN FOR LOOKING SULLEN
AFTER carer Christine Kent was charged by police for locking up a woman with learning disabilities for having a sullen look on her face, she described herself as a victim in an online rant.
Writing to her friends, the grandmother said: ‘In all of this mess that’s going on, I thank god I have my family to support me. Just knowing they are there helps me find the strength I need to get through this horrible situation.’
Kent, 57, was a care worker at Gatooma for seven years until 2011. The court heard one victim was made to change her jeans because they were too tight.
When the resident returned with a sullen expression, Kent sent her to the punishment room. She was found guilty of two counts of false imprisonment and was sentenced to four months in jail, suspended for 12 months.
LOCKED UP WOMAN FOR HOURS FOR BEING BORED
NATASHA Stapleton, 42, was the manager of Gatooma between 1999 and 2010.
A 54-year-old woman with severe anxiety and obsessive compulsive disorder accused the mother of three of locking her up in a punishment room for five and a half hours for saying that she was bored with watching television.
Stapleton, who went to a party dressed as Cruella de Vil while she awaited trial, was found guilty of three counts of false imprisonment and was jailed for 12 months, suspended for two years.
LIED TO POLICE TO FRAME RESIDENT
TIMOTHY Berry, the son of a Church of England official, imprisoned vulnerable adults at Veilstone, and then lied to police in an attempt to frame a resident and have him arrested and removed from the home.
Berry, 26, who grew up in a chapel and whose father leads services at All Saints church in Langtree, Devon, admitted he injured and imprisoned vulnerable residents against their will.
He received two concurrent four-month prison sentences, suspended for 12 months, and must do 100 hours of unpaid work.
Berry’s colleague at Veilstone, Chloe Massey-Caines, locked up resident Ben Garrod for refusing to do the care home’s laundry.
She then left him inside as ‘he shouted, wailed, pulled his hair, and bit his hand’.
Mrs Massey-Caines, 28, who is a weightlifter, was found guilty of false imprisonment and received a conditional discharge.
CAGED AUTISTIC MAN FOR TWITCHING
SAMANTHA Honey, 28, locked up an autistic man for twitching and being childish.
She was found guilty of false imprisonment and was given a conditional discharge.
Fellow carer Sarah Eke, 43, was given a two-year conditional discharge after being found guilty of imprisoning a resident who was hard of hearing and had severe OCD and severe anxiety in a punishment room for being agitated.
Lisa Pluckrose, 47, locked up Veilstone residents and tried to frame one as a violent attacker.
Pluckrose tried to convince police that she and Tim Berry had been assaulted by a male resident with a low IQ and epilepsy.
She admitted trying to pervert the course of justice and got a suspended four-month jail term and 60 hours of unpaid work.
Alison Palmer sent a care home resident with epilepsy to a punishment room for asking to call her mother. The 43-year-old carer was given a two-year conditional discharge after being found guilty of false imprisonment.