Care home worker guilty of ill-treating ‘defenceless’ man
A CARE home assistant who was accused of forcing dentures into an elderly man’s mouth and of trying to force-feed him has been found guilty of two counts of illtreatment.
Amy Brookes, 30, had been standing trial at Cardiff Crown Court charged with ill-treating a man who lacked capacity while working at the Glanffrwd Care Home, in Pencoed, Bridgend, on April 7 last year.
The resident concerned was David Bevan, 81, who suffered from a number of degenerative mental conditions including Parkinson’s and vascular dementia.
The court was told Mr Bevan has since died.
The ill treatment al- legations came to light after Brookes’ colleague Lianne Lowe reported the defendant after she said she witnessed her trying to force dentures into Mr Bevan’s mouth against his will and trying to force feed him, in a separate incident on the same day.
The jury was told after forcing Mr Bevan to drink, which resulted in it spilling over him and the floor, Brookes said: “For f***sake, f****** hell, why are you f****** doing this? Look what you have f****** done David.”
Brookes of Chapel Road, Wern Tarw, Bridgend, had denied the charges.
On Thursday, she was cross examined by prosecutor Nigel Fryer.
The barrister said: “You knew full well you had to put the dentures in but Mr Bevan didn’t want his dentures.
“You became extremely frustrated with him when he wouldn’t comply with what you wanted. You forced his dentures against his mouth.”
Brookes said: “No, that’s incorrect.”
Mr Fryer moved on to the allegation made by Ms Lowe that Brookes shouted and swore at Mr Bevan in the dining room of the care home after trying to force feed him.
He said: “He refused to open his mouth and continued with the behaviour he exhibited in his bedroom. Did he refuse to open his mouth?” Brookes said: “Correct.” Mr Fryer continued: “You found him difficult that day and you lost your patience didn’t you? You tried to force food into his mouth didn’t you?”
He added: “(Mr Bevan) was absolutely defenceless that day. He couldn’t help himself could he? He was completely at your mercy and you took advantage of that to try and make your day a bit easier.” Brookes said: “No.” Following closing speeches from Mr Fryer and defence barrister Matthew Roberts, the jury retired to consider their verdicts for the two counts of ill treatment.
After more than three hours of deliberations, the jury returned guilty verdicts for both counts after they were told by Judge Philip Harris-Jenkins he would accept a majority verdict.
Brookes is due to be sentenced on March 9.
The judge told the defendant all sentencing options remained open to him.