Care worker guilty of ill-treatment of elderly people

11/11/2011

Kimberley Walker, a care assistant, was today found guilty of the ill-treatment of two vulnerable elderly people whilst working at Amathea Care home in Workington in December 2010. She held a blanket over the head of one woman and a pillow over the face of another, Carlisle Crown Court heard.

Linda Vance, District Crown Prosecutor for North Cumbria CPS, said: "This was a very disturbing case. Kimberley Walker has today been found guilty of two serious offences against elderly patients who were in her care. She was in a position of trust and responsibility and abused that position in a terrible way. Instead of caring for these two vulnerable patients when they were in pain and needed help, as she was employed to do, she ill-treated them in view of other members of staff.

"Her actions were callous and difficult to believe. They are likely to have caused distress to the patients themselves and it has been distressing for their families to hear about them. In finding her guilty today, the jury have agreed with the prosecution case that her wilful ill-treatment of these elderly patients was criminal."

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