Wolverhampton health workers jailed for abusing elderly patient

Four health care workers have been jailed after they were caught on film physically and emotionally abusing an elderly patient.

The woman, 89, was at a Wolverhampton care home, had vascular dementia and could not speak, police said.

Her family secretly installed a camera and recorded the abuse, officers said.

Ame Tunkara, Morounranti Adefila, Danny Ohen and Bridget Aideyan were all found guilty and sentenced at Wolverhampton Crown Court.

The family had noticed bruising on the woman's arm after she had been in the home for a year while she had also become nervous and was scared to be touched, detectives added.

In February 2020, the family set up the camera and recorded footage over a four-day period.

It showed the woman being handled roughly, hit with a pillow and treated with a lack of dignity and respect, West Midlands Police said.

When the abuse was reported to the home, three members of staff were immediately dismissed and three other agency staff were suspended.

Police said another two suspects were identified after the footage was reviewed.

Eight care assistants were charged and four were found not guilty after a trial.

Tunkara, 33, of Walsall, and Adefila, 43, of Wolverhampton, were found guilty of ill-treatment and wilful neglect and sentenced on 8 December to four months in prison.

Ohen, 39, and Aideyan, 49, both from Wolverhampton, were also found guilty of the same offences and sentenced to six months and four months, respectively, on 14 November.

Det Con Kathryn Sargent said: "This elderly woman sadly died in October and should not have spent any of her remaining years suffering such ill-treatment."

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