Carer guilty of hitting dementia sufferer, 86

Cecilia Brady was found guilty of assaulting Robert Brodie, 86.

Cecilia Brady, 57, branded Robert Brodie, 86, a “nasty old man” and told a fellow worker she was glad he was deaf because he couldn’t hear her talking about him.

Robert, who was left paralysed down his left hand side following a stroke, had been moved by Brady and a co-worker on a stand aid to the bathroom area of his room.

He is said to have referred to Brady, of East Kilbride, Lanarkshire, as “bluebottle” because she was “buzzing around like a fly” when she lost her temper and lashed out.

She went on trial at Hamilton Sheriff Court and denied slapping Mr Brodie on the body and pushing a metal stand on his head in May last year at the Cathkin House care home in East Kilbride.

But disgraced Brady, of East Kilbride, was convicted by Sheriff Alasdair MacFadyen who described the incident as a “breach of trust”.

Sharon Greenshields, 22, who was working with Brady, told the court: “You need a lot of patience to do this job and the man does have some challenging needs. When he is anxious or showing challenging behaviour, you have to be approachable and patient with him. That night he was showing this to Cecilia and was quite challenging towards her.

“He was calling her bluebottle because she was like a fly buzzing around the room and as he said it she became less patient with him and was raising her voice and she began to tell him he was a nasty old man.

“She also said she was glad he was deaf because he wouldn’t be able to hear us.”

Miss Greenshields said she tried to calm Brady down after she hit him.

She added: “He was on the toilet when she first hit his hand in a slapping motion and she was quite worked up, she said he had stuck his nails into her hand but I didn’t see that and she didn’t say he had before she slapped him.

“I told her to calm down but she didn’t stop or calm down after I said it.

“We then put him on the bed and began moving the stand away but he kept his hand on the rail and she tried to move his hand. She hit his hand again saying, ‘Don’t dig your nails into me.’ I then saw her purposely push the metal stand aid into him and it hit him on the right of his forehead, there was no need for it to move any closer to him.

“It was moved back a bit and then forcibly pushed into him. I was shocked and could see she was angry so asked her to leave and calm down.”

Brady, who was suspended after the allegations were made, told the court she loved her job and was one of the “kindest carers” in the home.

She said: “I was suspended that night but I love my job and I don’t know if I could get back into care, I have a lot of compassion and feel upset I lost my job. I’ve led a decent life and am fighting for my reputation, I was one of the kindest carers in there.”

Sentence was deferred until next month.