Four health workers, reported to be Nigerians, have been imprisoned in Wolverhampton, U.K., after they were caught on film physically and emotionally abusing an elderly patient.
According to the police, the woman, 89, was at a Wolverhampton care home. She has vascular dementia and cannot speak.
The BBC reported on Thursday that police officers also disclosed that her family had secretly installed a camera and recorded the abuse.
Ame Tunkara, Morounranti Adefila, Danny Ohen and Bridget Aideyan were all found guilty and sentenced at Wolverhampton Crown Court, according to the BBC News report.
The family had noticed bruising on the woman’s arm after she had been in the home for a year while she had also become nervous and was scared to be touched, detectives added.
In February 2020, the family set up the camera and recorded footage over four days.
It showed the woman being handled roughly, hit with a pillow and treated with a lack of dignity and respect, West Midlands Police said.
When the abuse was reported to the home, three members of staff were immediately dismissed and three other agency staff were suspended.
Police said another two suspects were identified after the footage was reviewed.
Eight care assistants were charged and four were found not guilty after a trial.
Tunkara, 33, of Walsall, and Adefila, 43, of Wolverhampton, were found guilty of ill-treatment and wilful neglect and sentenced on December 8 to four months in prison.
Ohen, 39, and Aideyan, 49, both from Wolverhampton, were also found guilty of the same offences and sentenced to six months and four months, respectively, on November 14.
Det Con Kathryn Sargent said: “This elderly woman sadly died in October and should not have spent any of her remaining years suffering such ill-treatment.”
David Atherton, a journalist and frequent contributor to the BBC, ITV, BBC Radio, TalkTV and GBNews , tweeted on Friday morning: “Four Nigerian healthcare workers have been found guilty of abusing an 89 year-old woman with vascular dementia in Wolverhampton.
“Ame Tunkara, 33 & Morounranti Adefila, 43 jailed for 4 months. Last Sept Danny Ohen, 39 & Bridget Aideyan, 49, were jailed for 6 mths & 4 mths.