WORCESTERSHIRE CHILD-CARE WORKERS SENTENCED FOR ABUSE AT CHILDREN'S HOME
Two care workers who operated a violent regime at a Worcestershire children's home have been found guilty of ill-treating girls with severe learning difficulties.Grace Davies, a team leader at Sunfield, Clent, and Janet Poolton, her senior assistant in The Pines unit, which cared for children with serious mental disorders, were convicted yesterday by a jury at Worcester Crown Court.Judge Andrew Geddes ordered pre-sentence reports but warned the women to expect prison sentences.He granted them bail.The maximum sentence for each offence, under the Mental Health Act 1983, is two years imprisonment.Davies, aged 42 from Brickhouse Road, Rowley Regis, West Midlands, was found guilty of six charges of ill treatment and cleared of six other charges and one of wilful neglect.
Poolton, aged 49 of Dowles Road, Bewdley, was convicted of one charge of ill treatment and cleared of two others, with three additional similar charges left on file as the jury could not reach verdicts.Both denied all charges.During an eight-day trial, it was revealed that punishments included slaps and kicks.
Davies attacked one girl with her shoe, and another girl, upset by constant rocking, was hit on the head with a chopping board.
Poolton reportedly told a girl with an eating disorder she was a "dirty animal," then forcibly fed her and slapped her three times.The prosecutor, Mr.
Andrew Lockhart, stated these women were responsible for a catalogue of abuse, protected by silence within the home, with Davies preventing complaints by other staff and keeping incidents secret.
He emphasized that the victims, with mental ages of four or five, required care but were subject to anger, spite, and fury by the staff.
Davies, who had worked at the home for 19 years, claimed staff plotted against her when she was absent, and Poolton, a five-year employee, expressed love for her job and claimed only recognized restraint methods were used.Sunfield's chief executive Prof Barry Carpenter announced that the home welcomed the verdicts, attributing the police investigation to proactive management initiated 18 months prior.
