SHAMELESS
So-called carer caught on camera snorting drugs when he’s meant to be looking after man
A SHAMEFUL carer was caught on camera snorting lines of drugs in the same room as a severely disabled man he was supposedly looking after.
Sneaky Thomas Harris checked nobody was looking then sniffed amphetamine with the vulnerable man just feet away, out of camera shot.
The horrified father of the disabled man watched in disbelief on a live stream after setting up covert cameras in his son’s Newcastle home due to his suspicions about the care he was receiving.
Harris had also taken the irresponsible decision to reduce the victim’s medication while on a trip to Center Parcs, in the Lake District, leading to a worsening of his mental state.
A court heard the victim has “fragile X” and autism, and has the mental capacity of a four to five-year-old, requiring round-the-clock care.
Harris, 56, had been one of the victim’s carers for a decade, was considered almost one of the family, leaving the man’s parents feeling betrayed by his neglect of their loved one.
After seeing him walk free from Newcastle Crown Court on a suspended sentence, the man’s mum said she has been off work sick since the revelation of what had been happening.
She said: “Thomas was a really good carer and was almost part of our family. It’s an abuse of our trust and a betrayal.
“We thought we were doing the best for our son so he would be safe. It’s horrific.”
The court heard the 31-yearold victim’s condition gives rise to learning disabilities and behavioural problems and he is an “extremely vulnerable person”.
He suffers from anxiety and agitation, has an aversion to changes in his routine and had been prescribed anti-psychotic drugs which doctors said he needed to take in the morning and at night.
In February, Harris and another carer took him to Center Parcs and, while they were away, Harris reduced his medication, although the other carer was still giving him it on occasions.
It was after they returned that Harris was caught on camera taking illicit drugs. Prosecutor Kevin Wardlaw said: “Due to issues from previous care companies, his father had installed covert CCTV to monitor the standard of care he received.
“(The father) monitored the CCTV live feed from his desk at work and at this time he saw his son and carers return from Center Parcs.
“(The victim) lay on the living room floor using his iPad and the defendant was present in the living room and the other carer was upstairs. The behaviour of the defendant attracted the father’s attention.
He spread out a newspaper and placed a place mat on top of it and placed something against his nose. He was snorting drugs.”
The father called the police and him and officers went to the house to confront Harris.
He was searched and tablets he should have given the victim were found in his jeans and he claimed he had been refusing to take them.
He was arrested and, on the way to the police station, he said: “(The victim) doesn’t need the meds, he is better off without them so I have not been giving them to him”.
A further search found more of the anti-psychotic tablets and a bag of white powder which turned out to be amphetamine, which he said he sometimes took to deal with stress.
Mr Wardlaw said: “In interview, he said he failed to give him the medication because, in his opinion, he was better off without it because taking it made him less active.
“He accepted he was not qualified to make a judgement about what was in the best interests of (the victim).”
A doctor who saw the victim a few days later said he was “very disturbed” and required additional medication to calm him down.
Harris, of Hardie Avenue, Whickham, Gateshead, pleaded guilty to an offence of having the care of a person lacking mental capacity, neglecting their care, and possessing amphetamine.
He was given four months imprisonment, suspended for 12 months with 80 hours of unpaid work.