Care worker Enow Tambe, 33, was seen shouting in the man’s face, threatening to shave his head, poking him repeatedly and laughing at him when he had no choice but to urinate on the floor
A carer who was caught on camera tormenting his vulnerable patient over several hours has been jailed.
Enow Tambe was one of two carers responsible for looking after a man, aged 60, with learning difficulties and blindness. The man required constant care and lived in supported accommodation, as heard in Manchester Crown Court. The man’s sister, worried about his care, installed CCTV which revealed the shocking nature of 33-year-old’s Tambe’s treatment.
He was seen shouting in the man’s face, threatening to shave his head, poking him repeatedly and laughing at him when he had no choice but to urinate on the floor. After pleading guilty to being a carer causing ill-treatment of an individual, Tambe was sentenced to 11 months in prison.
The victim received round-the-clock care, with two carers during the day and one at night, including Tambe, as stated by prosecutor David Lees. “For some time [his] sister had concerns about his care and she installed CCTV into the flat,” he said, according to the Manchester Evening News.
On March 14 last year, Tambe and another staff member were caring for the man. The quality of care declined after Tambe arrived, Mr Lees said. “He asked them to change the TV, but the defendant left the other carer in the room and both ignored him. He asked if anybody was there and accused the carers of ignoring him,” the prosecutor added.
“Mr Tambe was then seen to shout in his face: ‘Are you there? ‘ The man asked them again to change the TV before Tambe said he would put him in the shower and shave his head. He then lightly punched him in the shoulder before putting on some gloves and getting an electric razor. He plugged it in and put it close to his head. At 7.10pm he could be heard to say: ‘I will die tonight’ and Tambe replied: ‘We will bury you,’.”
In disturbing footage that spanned over 40 minutes, Tambe’s torment of the elderly man escalated. The victim could be heard repeatedly begging for reprieve, imploring: “Why are you ignoring me? ” as Tambe nonchalantly responded, “Will you leave me alone.” Adding to the abhorrent scene, Tambe was overheard saying: “I want to play with you now,” eliciting the man’s response: “You’re a bad carer”, to which Tambe chillingly replied: “I know.”
In court, it was revealed how the shocking abuse culminated with Tambe allowing the man to urinate on the floor, proceeding to laugh at his predicament. Following his apprehension, Tambe’s defence to officers was that he never intended any harm. The care home manager described the situation as a ‘barrage of emotional and physical abuse’ that spanned from morning till night, only ending when the night shift carer stepped in.
Michael Johnson, mitigating, said: “The defendant did say to the probation officer that at the time this was the most challenging patient that employees were tasked with caring for. The defendant knows he had let down many of his friends and colleagues. He bitterly regrets his actions.”
Mr Johnson spoke of ‘incessant demands’ faced by Tambe, acknowledging that his client ‘should not have got frustrated’. He added that Tambe felt remorse and shame, noting that Tambe had now ‘lost his good name’.
Upon sentencing, Recorder Phillip Barnes said: “He was being bullied, harassed, belittled and abused for a number of hours. He was ignored and refused help when he asked for it. He was blind and couldn’t see what was going on about him. He was shouted at in close quarters, he was threatened to have his head shaved. He was poked and prodded, not to harm but to intimidate, upset and bully.”
Tambe was seen and heard laughing as he repeatedly touched the blind and vulnerable man’s genitals. “At times he was touched eight, 12, fifteen times, something which distressed him, and something he asked you not to do. You could be seen and heard to laugh. He was difficult not because he wanted to be or sought to provoke you, but because he had learning difficulties and he was blind,” the judge added.
“What terrifies me the most is you have spent a lot of your life learning about people – you have a degree in social care – yet you assaulted him on a number of occasions that afternoon.” The judge told Tambe: “You have not just potentially let down your career, you have disgraced it.”
