Posted on January 22, 2024

Footage Reveals Dementia-Stricken Grandmother’s Shocking Abuse at the Hands of Cruel Carers

Elizabeth Haigh, Daily Mail, January 18, 2024

Harrowing footage shows a 89-year-old grandmother suffering from dementia being abused by four cruel carers after her family became suspicious of bruises on her body and hid a secret camera in her bedroom.

Sisters Danielle and Rebecca Hinsley unwittingly captured footage that ‘broke our hearts’ after becoming concerned when their grandmother Beryl Wall’s behaviour changed and she was left with injuries to her body.

The pair complained to staff at the Wolverhampton care home in February 2020 but were left dissatisfied with the response so took matters into their own hands.

Ms Wall’s granddaughters put a Yi Eye Wi-Fi camera on a photo frame in her grandmother’s bedroom in a bid to see what was happening to Mrs Wall, who could not speak at the time.

In a Michelle Keegan Fool Me Once style gambit, the £120 camera was disguised and recorded footage through motion detection straight to one of the sisters’ phones.

Mrs Wall had been suffering with dementia since 2015 and was 89 at the time of the abuse.

Tragically, the beloved grandmother-of-six, great-grandmother of 12 and the great-great grandmother-of-one passed away on October 6 last year, aged 92 – shortly after her abusers were found guilty.

In the distressing footage captured over four days the heartless workers can be seen making fun of the pensioner, pushing her, aggressively holding her legs in the air and pinching her.

In another clip one of the thugs can be seen forcibly grabbing and mocking Mrs Wall before hitting her over the head with a pillow.

The shocking video also shows the disgraced staff calling Mrs Wall ‘disgusting’ and pinning her down while they attempt to clean and dress her.

Some of the footage shows how Mrs Walls’ legs were yanked or forcibly held in the air, despite her increasingly distressed screams.

It also showed her being pushed, restrained and having a towel placed over her face by carers who were meant to uphold her dignity.

Danielle, 36, and Rebecca, 39, took their evidence to the care home managers, the Care Quality Commission and West Midlands Police.

Carers Ame Tunkara, 33, Morounranti Adefila, 43, Danny Ohen, 39, and Bridget Aideyan, 49, were later charged with ill-treatment and willful neglect.

They were found guilty and jailed for a total of 18 months at Wolverhampton Crown Court at the end of last year.

Mother-of-five Danielle, 36, from Wolverhampton, said: ‘She first went into the care home in April 2019 and the abuse started in February 2020 – just before lockdown.

‘Her behaviour changed, she started hitting me and my sister. She was whacking us and screaming at us, telling us to get out.

‘We went in the next day and she had bruises on her elbows, face, head and wrists. That was what was visible to us, there was a lot more over her body we couldn’t see.

‘We called the management straight in and they just asked us to email the pictures. It wasn’t good enough so went out and ordered the camera straight away.

‘We knew somebody was hurting her. The bruises on the wrist weren’t alarming, but we knew something was up from the bruises on the face.

‘They were above her chin and eyebrow. We were angry more than anything.

‘The camera came the next day and we took it to the home. We left it a couple of days and when we brought it home what we saw was just horrific.

‘It broke our hearts.’

Danielle and Rebecca recovered the motion-capture camera and had to watch back the endless hours of abuse as it unfolded in front of their eyes.

Stay-at-home-mum Danielle says Ohen’s abuse was the worst with him mocking her nan’s speech and pinching her face.

She added: ‘The man was the worst. He was hitting her over the head with a pillow.

‘He was mocking her because she couldn’t talk properly, he was pinching her face, holding her legs.

‘He was telling her he was going to phone the police.

‘The other woman was staring at her and holding a towel over her. They were holding her legs up like a baby, she was screaming. We were heartbroken and angry.’

The sisters immediately told one of the nurses at the care home, who informed the company’s regional managers before police were called in.

Danielle said: ‘My mum and dad were really proud. We promised nan we’d protect her.

‘Because it was Christmas, that was the best punishment, them not being able to spend Christmas with their family.

‘I wish it was longer but happy it was over Christmas. We thought they might get suspended sentences.

‘We believe nan waited for the trial to end because she took a turn quite quickly and stopped eating when we told her the verdict.

‘The week after the verdict she passed away. It was like she was waiting to know.

‘She was my everything and always will be my everything.’

Tunkara and Adefila, both from Walsall, West Midslands, were found guilty last May and jailed for four months each on December 8.

Ohen and Aideyan, both from Wolverhampton, were convicted in September and jailed for six and four months respectively on November 14.

Three of the four workers were from an agency and one was a permanent member of staff at the home.

The family does not want to name the care home, which is under new management, saying the other staff had been ‘amazing’ with Mrs Wall.

Detective Constable Kathryn Sargent, from West Midlands Police, said: ‘This elderly woman sadly died in October and should not have spent any of her remaining years suffering such ill-treatment.

‘On sentencing Judge Campbell described the footage as “chilling”. I hope the lady’s family are content that justice has been served.’

Original Article