Last of Winterbourne View Defendants Pleads Guilty

06/08/2012

Today, Michael Onyema Ezenagu, 28, from White City, London, entered guilty pleas to two counts of ill treating a patient at Winterbourne View Hospital in Bradley Stoke, Bristol.

Ten other people, all previous employees of Winterbourne View Hospital, have already pleaded guilty to a total of 34 charges of ill treatment and neglect, bringing the total charges to 36. All eleven defendants will be sentenced at a later date.

Ann Redropp, Head of the CPS South West Complex Casework Unit, said: "Safety and security, and the ability to live free from fear and harassment, are fundamental human rights. The kind of offending that took place at Winterbourne View undermined these rights in an appalling and systematically brutal way.

"The CPS has treated these as disability hate crimes, which we regard as particularly serious. Disability hate crimes are based on ignorance, prejudice and hate. Disabled people can be victims of crime due to their perceived vulnerability, particularly where there is an unequal relationship, such as where the perpetrator is the victim's carer. At Winterbourne View, people who should have been able to trust their carers had that trust cruelly and repeatedly abused."

Defendants

All charges are contrary to section 127 (1) of the Mental Health Act 1983:

Charlotte Justine Cotterell pleaded guilty to one count of Hospital/care home staff ill treating a patient

Michael Onyema Ezenagu pleaded guilty to two counts of Hospital/care home staff ill treating a patient

Kelvin Fore pleaded guilty to two counts of Hospital/care home staff neglecting patient

Jason Gardiner pleaded guilty to two counts of Hospital/care home staff ill treating patient

Wayne Stuart Rogers pleaded guilty to nine counts of Hospital/care home staff ill treating patient

Alison Dove pleaded guilty to seven counts of Hospital/care home staff ill treating patient

Graham Doyle pleaded guilty to seven counts of Hospital/care home staff ill treating patient

Holly Laura Draper pleaded guilty to two counts of Hospital/care home staff ill treating patient

Sookalingum Appoo pleaded guilty to three counts of Hospital/care home staff neglecting patient

Daniel Brake pleaded guilty to two counts of Hospital/care home staff ill treating patient

Neil Ferguson pleaded guilty to one count of Hospital/care home staff ill treating patient

Ends