Care home boss jailed for locking disabled in ‘punishment rooms’
against the final two accused. Among the convicted were several directors. Jolyon Marshall, 42, was jailed for 18 months, later increased to 28 months by the Court of Appeal, for conspiracy to detain and imprison falsely and perverting the course of justice.
His wife Rachael, 32, received eight months imprisonment, suspended for two years, for conspiracy to detain and imprison falsely.
Fellow director Timothy Stevens was sentenced to 10 months imprisonment, suspended for two years, for conspiracy to imprison falsely.
Paul Hewitt, 71, the director and founder of Atlas, was convicted of a health and safety offence, fined £12,500 and ordered to pay costs of £105,000. Seven defendants were acquitted and prosecutors did not seek retrials against four others after the panel failed to reach verdicts. During the trial, some of the seven victims gave evidence.
Staff tried to correct residents’ behaviour as if they would train an animal, with prosecutor Andrew Langdon QC describing it as the “Atlas culture”. Mr Langdon said: “These two rooms were used by staff to control, perhaps to even punish, residents at a time that was not only unacceptable by professional standards of care but was also quite unnecessarily cruel.”
The abuse ended when a former resident contacted the Care Quality Commission in July 2011.
Police worked with prosecutors to prove senior figures had trained staff to carry out the cruel practice.
The watchdog carried out unannounced inspections the following October and the homes were closed. Atlas has gone into administration.
Huw Rogers, of the Crown Prosecution Service, said: “This case has been ground-breaking in that the directors and managers of the home and not just the staff that implemented their policies have been held to account.”