Scotland’s most callous carer
He admits leaving man in bath for 17 hours
A CARE WORKER deliberately neglected a profoundly disabled man by leaving him trapped cold and naked in a bath for 17 hours.
Scott Sloan, 45, was an agency carer working in the home of Andrew McKinnell, who suffers from seizures and has the mental capacity of a six-year-old.
But in a shocking case of illtreatment, when Mr McKinnell fell into the bath while he was preparing to have a shower, Sloan callously ignored him.
Even though Mr McKinnell, 55, was unable to lift himself out of the tub, the carer failed to help.
Astonishingly, he did not even offer his trapped client any blankets or clothing to preserve his dignity and keep him warm.
Instead, Sloan went for a sleep – leaving Mr McKinnell lying for around 17 hours.
On Thursday, Sloan admitted illtreating or wilfully neglecting Mr McKinnell at his client’s home in Carntyne, in Glasgow’s east end, in November last year. Last night, Mr McKinnell’s brother, Rodney, 53, welcomed Sloan’s admission of guilt but said: ‘What he did to Andrew was disgusting and he’s a disgrace to the caring profession.
‘The thought that someone who is being paid to look after our brother could leave them in the bath in severe distress for all that time without any remorse or compassion has left the family devastated.
‘The care system was put in place because Andrew wanted some independence as he got older.
‘Having someone stay in his home with him was supposed to help him achieve that. Instead, he has lost his confidence and trust in anyone charged with his care now. He spent nearly eight weeks in hospital after this happened.
‘He cries a lot when he thinks about how he was left trapped for so long without anyone coming to help.
‘The effect it has had on him and his family has been terrible.
‘I felt sick when I found out what had been happening to him and I knew nothing about it.
‘What kind of animal does this to a vulnerable human being?
‘I hope he gets time in prison to think about his actions.’
Mr McKinnell requires roundthe-clock care within his home. He had spent years in hospital care from the age of 12 because of his seizures and balance problems, but his family were delighted that the care package put in place allowed him to live in his own home.
At Glasgow Sheriff Court, Sloan pleaded guilty to a single charge under the Health (Tobacco, Nicotine etc and Care) (Scotland) Act. It stated that between November 3 and 4 last year he did ‘ill-treat or wilfully neglect’ Mr McKinnell, who had ‘slipped and fallen within the bath while attempting to enter the shower’.
The charge also stated that when Mr McKinnell found himself ‘unable to exit the bath under his own power’, Sloan failed ‘to provide assistance’, and failed ‘to provide him with any blankets or clothing
‘What kind of animal does this to a human being?’
whilst he was trapped’. The charge goes on to state that Sloan had chosen to ‘retire to bed’, leaving Mr McKinnell ‘unsupervised, trapped within the bath for a period of approximately 17 hours’.
It added that the offence was ‘aggravated by prejudice relating to disability’.
Sloan is due to be sentenced later this year.