Care home boss and worker jailed for neglect

A former care home boss and a senior care assistant who subjected elderly and vulnerable residents to "humiliating and degrading treatment" have been jailed.

Helen Burridge, 62, who ran the Riddlesden Rest Home in Keighley, and staff member Amy Dickinson, 24, had previously been found guilty of several counts of ill treatment against residents.

Bradford Crown Court heard how residents were called names, while one woman with dementia was slapped and another resident was given alcohol to subdue them.

The women were both sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison for each offence, to run concurrently.

Jailing them on Friday, Judge Ahmed Nadim said: "Both of you, by your conduct, took away the dignity of the residents in your care in the twilight of their years."

The court heard "a culture of neglect pervaded" at the home.

The judge said: "Some residents were slapped, others were knocked to the ground.

"Inappropriate feeding techniques were deployed and others were not fed properly."

Residents who needed personal care as a result of incontinence "were not always changed at the times and the frequency that they should have been", the judge added.

Referring to Burridge, the judge said he recognised she did not bear direct responsibility for all the failings.

But because of her position in the care home, the judge said "you set the standards that were in fact followed by Amy Dickinson".

Addressing Dickinson, the judge said she was 19 at the time of offending and he recognised that her co-accused "did not set good standards for you to follow or discourage you from the incidents of callous behaviour".

Burridge, of Greenfield Road in Holmfirth, had previously been found guilty of four offences of wilful neglect while Dickinson, of Fairfax Street in Silsden, was convicted of seven charges of the same offences.

Speaking after the sentencing hearing, Det Con Polly Churchman, from West Yorkshire Police, said: "These elderly residents should have been in a place of safety and should have been well cared for.

"The care they provided was appalling and fell way short of the high standards you would expect in a facility like this."

Det Con Churchman added: "I would like to praise the care worker who came forward and reported these crimes to us.

"This has been a lengthy investigation and I'd like to pay tribute to the elderly residents and their families for their patience throughout the process and I hope todays sentence can give them some closure."

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