Carer gave strong tranquilliser to a pensioner in her nineties

ACARER secretly gave the elderly and vulnerable woman she was supposed to be looking after a powerful tranquilliser drug.

The alarm was raised by the victim’s daughters, who became concerned about their mother’s change in behaviour and her deteriorating health.

Carer Maria Maia was arrested while trying to board a flight to her native Portugal in possession of alprazolam – better known by the brand name Xanax – which is a potent benzodiazepine medication, traces of which had been found in her victim’s system. The reasons for administering the medication remain unknown.

David Singh, prosecuting, told Swansea Crown Court that the victim was a woman in her nineties and a former nurse, who had been given the MBE for her services to the profession.

He said the woman had medical issues including visual impairment, raised blood pressure, high cholesterol, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and mild to moderate dementia and required a live-in carer.

In June 2022 the defendant, who was employed by a West Midlandsbased agency, moved into the woman’s house in Port Talbot to act as her carer. The court heard the pensioner was receiving daily medication which came via a pre-loaded “carousel” that would open twice daily – at 9am and 9pm – and dispense the necessary pills.

However, due to her poor eyesight she needed help to take the medication. The prosecutor said a few days after the defendant started work she reported to the pensioner’s daughters that their mother appeared unwell and was incontinent.

The court heard this news concerned the daughters, both of whom were nurses and who kept a detailed spreadsheet recording their mother’s medication, food intake, observations on her condition, and other matters.

When the daughters spoke independently to their mother over the phone they found she was “euphoric” and “excitable” and was slurring her words. The siblings thought their mother appeared to be under the influence of something.

The court heard the daughters contacted their mother’s GP, who made a house visit, and the pensioner was taken to hospital, where she was noted to be unsteady on her feet and had bowel incontinence and slurred speech. She was prescribed medication and returned home.

The daughters raised concerns with the agency employing Maia and the defendant was replaced by another carer but stayed in post until her replacement arrived.

The court heard the pensioner’s health deteriorated over the following days and she became weak and difficult to rouse and had trouble speaking. On June 23 the pensioner was readmitted to hospital, where kidney failure was diagnosed, and the court heard during her stay a doctor had discussed with the family the subject of palliative care.

The prosecutor said a blood test showed the presence of alprazolam, a benzodiazepine medication not available by NHS prescription.

The prosecutor said a forensic scientist concluded that such a drug may cause drowsiness, confusion, anger and insomnia, and the effects are more pronounced in the elderly.

He said these symptoms are similar to those experienced by the complainant as observed by her daughters and medical professionals.

The court heard the defendant was arrested on July 17 as she tried to board a flight.

In her luggage was medication including alprazolam, which she said was hers. She denied giving it to anyone else and said she had kept the medication in her own bedroom at the Port Talbot property.

The court heard the complainant was eventually discharged from hospital in early August 2022, with there having been other health issues that cannot be attributed to the defendant.

Mr Singh said the prosecution could not say how much alprazolam was given to the complainant or what the direct impact was, but he said it was submitted that the symptoms identified by the family and the hospital matched the symptoms identified as possible adverse reactions to the drug’s use.

Maria Maia, aged 54, of Boscombe Street, Reddish, Stockport, Greater Manchester, was charged with administering a poison with intent to endanger life and the lesser alterative of administering a poison or other destructive or noxious thing with intent to injure, aggrieve or annoy, and the matter went to trial.

The defendant subsequently entered a guilty plea to common assault on day two of her trial, which was accepted by the prosecution following consultation with the family. Mr Singh said the decision to accept the plea to assault was “very much led by the family”.

The defendant has no previous convictions in the UK nor in any other jurisdiction. Mr Singh said the complainant’s family wanted the court to know they believe their mother would have exhibited forgiveness towards Maia if the defendant apologised and was genuinely remorseful, and he said that sentiment spoke volumes for the kind of woman the complainant is and spoke of the family’s integrity.

Robin Rouch, for Maia, said with her guilty plea the defendant had accepted responsibility for what she did.

He noted that while the defendant was on bail pending her trial her father had been diagnosed with cancer and she had sought permission from the court to return to Portugal for two weeks. He said she had arrived home a few days before her father died, then came back to the UK after his funeral. The barrister said Maia, who is married and has an adult son, realises she has let her family down.

Mr Rouch said the defendant wanted to return to live in Portugal and try to rebuild her life, and he said his client had no desire to seek work in the care sector again.

The barrister said given the lengthy period of time she had spent on bail in the UK, he would invite the court to pass a sentence which was not one of immediate custody.

Judge Catherine Richards said it was not clear to what extent the defendant’s actions led to the health conditions the complainant suffered, but said not disclosing what substance the pensioner had ingested had meant medical professionals were not able to provide the appropriate care.

She told Maia what she had done had caused huge distress and trauma to the family of the woman she was supposed to be caring for.

The judge described the case as “unusual” and said given all the circumstances she could not properly come to the view that immediate custody was the only suitable disposal.

Maia was sentenced to three months in prison suspended for 12 months. The judge said she had no doubt the defendant would be referred to the Disclosure and Barring Service and told her she had an obligation to disclose the conviction in Portugal.