Carer threatened to hit dementia patient, 85, if she didn’t drink her tea

AN ELDERLY bed-bound demen- tia sufferer was assaulted by two carers who had no training or qualifications, a court heard.

One of the 85-year-old woman’s carers – Zaria Bi, 48 – is alleged to have raised a clenched fist and threatened the woman in an attempt to get her to drink a cup of tea.

Bi also held the cup over the woman’s head and threatened to call police if she failed to drink it. Her colleague, Farzana Bibi, 41, slapped the woman on her arms in footage recorded on CCTV fitted in the woman’s bedroom by her daughter, who had become concerned about her mother’s behaviour.

The only training the pair had was shadowing other carers, the court was told. In the footage the victim was seen sobbing and telling the two private carers to leave.

Melanie Ibbotson, prosecuting, said the behaviour of the women should be seen as a disability hate crime, and said a member of social services described their actions as ‘disgusting and shocking’.

The dementia sufferer required four visits during the day, and one in the evening.

Bi and Bibi had been carrying out some of the visits for 18 months up to October last year.

Both women, of previous good character, admitted assaulting the woman at her home in Keighley, West Yorkshire, on October 22 and were sentenced to a 12-month community order with 200 hours unpaid work. They were also ordered to pay compensation of £250 each at Skipton Magistrates’ Court.

Sabeeha Khan, in mitigation, said her clients had developed a rapport with the woman in their care and had wanted to make sure she had plenty to drink and eat.

Miss Khan denied they were guilty of a disability hate crime and said the fact the woman had vascular dementia was incidental. She added that she was surprised that their only training had been to shadow other carers.

In a statement read out in court, the woman’s daughter said she had been shocked and disgusted by the behaviour of the carers and had felt

‘Disgusting and shocking’

guilty that she had not known it was going on.

She said her mother was now happy again, and back to her normal self.

Magistrates told Bi and Bibi, both from Keighley, that they had demonstrated hostility to the victim, both in the language they had used, the use of clenched fists and threats.

The assaults had also been carried out in the woman’s own home, which was an abuse of trust, the court heard.

The 12-month community sentence stipulated that the women must complete up to 20 rehabilitation activity requirement days and prohibited them from paid work caring for vulnerable adults.

They will also each have to pay costs of £85 and a surcharge of £85.