A care home resident with dementia and learning difficulties was allegedly subjected to horrific abuse at Wavertree Nursing home in Liverpool – and five staff members are now on trial
Carers at a nursing home put a pair of underpants on the head of an elderly resident and “waved their bum in her face,” a court has heard.
The dementia sufferer was subjected to horrific abuse at Wavertree Nursing home in Liverpool, with CCTV footage capturing the mistreatment over a period of time. Five members on staff went on trial at Liverpool Crown Court today, with disturbing allegations made about the abuse suffered by the 85-year-old resident.
Senior care assistant William Vasey is alleged to have repeatedly placed the underwear on the woman’s head, but claims that he only did so in order to put rollers in her hair. His colleague Wendy Shelley is accused of “shaking her bum in the face of” the nursing home resident, although she says that she did this “as a bit of fun” after being called “fat a—” by the woman.
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Co-workers Josh Ireland, Valerie Marshall and Adelle McIlhatton are also on trial, accused of watching and laughing as the victim was “humiliated and ganged up on.” They all deny charges of ill treatment and neglect, the Liverpool Echo reports.
During the prosecution’s opening this afternoon, Jonathan Rogers said the woman, suffering from dementia and learning difficulties, had been a resident of the care home in February last year. She had also been under the care of the Court of Protection due to her “lacking capacity to understand her care needs.”
Mr Rogers said the defendant were responsible for looking after the residents in the care home but “they all failed to do so” on February 9. He told the court: “You will see video evidence capturing the defendants either ill treating or wilfully neglecting one of the residents at that nursing home. At the time, she was 85 years of age. The videos that I will play to you will show one or another of the defendants, on that occasion, prodding or pushing her, waving their bum in her face, putting underpants on her head or laughing at what the other defendants were doing.
“It is clear from the video, we, the prosecution, say, that, instead of looking after and caring for her, the defendants were effectively ganging up on her, humiliating and making fun of her or laughing her. Not one of the defendants, as you will see, seeks to stop what is happening.”
The prosecutor said all five of the defendants were seen in the care home’s dining area. At some point, he said the footage showed Shelley “pushing at the woman several times” and “appearing to try and grab her face before pushing her on the right shoulder.” While the resident was apparently seen “trying to stop her by pushing her away,” Mr Rogers said that “those around the table and the nurse did nothing to intervene.”
Shelley was then seen “effectively shaking her bum in the face of” the woman, “continuing to do this despite [the woman] trying to push her away,” Mr Rogers said. Vasey was then seen approaching the patient and “saying something to her, causing everybody, it appears, to laugh,” with Marshall having “her head in her hands” at this time. The former was subsequently seen “grabbing at” the resident’s face as she “pushed him away.”
Mr Rogers continued: “It appears that some underpants are being thrown between Josh Ireland and [the woman]. What you will see next is, Mr Vasey picks up those underpants and puts them on her head.
“You can see the other defendants. Nobody does anything. They just appear to be laughing at what has gone on. What we say happens in this clip is, Mr Vasey again picks up the pants and throws them at [the woman], who throws them or passes them back.
“Mr Vasey continues to throw the pants at her. It is clear that she does not want them anywhere near her, because she keeps throwing them at him. Mr Vasey picks the pants back up and puts them back on her head. He repeatedly throws them at her. He repeatedly puts them in her face, despite her trying to push him away.
“The other defendants do not do anything. They are just laughing at what is happening. There he is, throwing the pants in her face. Ms Shelley comes back and puts her arms on her shoulders, and Mr Vasey puts the pants back on her head. He puts them in her face.”
Another staff member who worked in the care home’s kitchen went on to report to police how the resident was “clearly upset and distressed by what was happening to her.” Vasey, 42, said during a police interview that the woman “had no family and didn’t receive visitors” and stated “he was just messing with” her and “had no malicious intent and intended no harm.”
He also stated he was “using the knickers to keep rollers in her hair” and denied having poking her in the face, saying that he was “just tickling her” and “just trying to put a smile on her face.” Ireland, 23, said the woman “could be aggressive at times” but agreed that she was being mistreated and said he “didn’t say anything to anyone or challenge them to stop.”
While he “couldn’t explain why he did nothing,” Ireland conceded that he was “laughing at what happening” and “throwing and passing the pants” to the resident. He added: “It just mortifies me. Looking back, why didn’t I stop it?”
Shelley, 56, claimed the reason why she was “shaking her bum” was “because she had called her fat a—.” She also stated that Vasey had “put the pants on her head as they were going to be used to put rollers in her hair” and said she was giving the complainant a massage, “denying that she was distressed” and saying it was “just part of the relationship they had with her”.
In a prepared statement, McIlhatton said she wasn’t aware of the extent of the abuse and that she “would have intervened” if she had realised, even though Mr Rogers told the court the 51-year-old was “facing directly at” the resident at the time. Marshall, 50, denied she was laughing in the video and said she “had her face in her hands because she was waiting for a phone call about her grandson, who wasn’t well.” She also said she would have spoken out and “challenged the behaviour” if she had understood what was happening.
Mr Rogers added: “Mr Vasey and Ms Shelley seem to suggest that there was nothing wrong with what they did. They are saying that there was no ill treatment. Ms McIlhatton and Ms Marshall say that they were not aware of what was going on. Finally, Mr Ireland says that he was aware of what was going on. He says that he should have intervened, but he didn’t.”
Vasey, Ireland and Shelley deny being a carer ill treating an individual, while Ireland, Marshall and McIlhatton have pleaded not guilty to wilful neglect by “effectively not stopping others from doing what they were doing” and “instead laughing at what was going on.” The trial, before Judge Katherine Pierpoint, continues, and is expected to last for around five days.