Care home directors and staff sentenced for neglect of elderly

CARE home bosses could increasingly face prosecution for neglect of residents after a “ground-breaking” court case.

Five company directors and managers were among 13 people convicted for imprisoning the vulnerable at two care homes in Devon run by Atlas Project Team – the Veilstone care home in Bideford, and Gatooma, in Holsworthy.

Staff treated people like animals, Bristol Crown Court heard, trapping them in rooms without heating, furniture or even lavatories for long periods.

Jolyon Marshall, 42, a company director, was jailed for 28 months and his wife Rachel, 32, was given an eightmonth suspended sentence. Paul Hewitt, 71, the company founder, was convicted of a health and safety offence, with other managers given suspended sentences and community service orders, along with care workers who carried out the abuse.

Huw Rogers, from the Crown Prosecution Service, said: “This case has been ground-breaking in that the directors and managers of the homes and not just the staff … have been held to account.”