Home assistant who dragged 86-year-old along floor jailed

A FORMER home assistant who dragged an 86-year-old woman along the floor has been jailed.

Zimbabwean national Carla Nyatsanza, 35, was sacked by the Bupa-run Pentland Hill Nursing Home in Edinburgh following the 2008 attack on Jean Burgoyne.

The Alzheimer's patient was left bruised and bleeding after Nyatsanza pulled her along a corridor shouting "let's go, let's go".

At Edinburgh Sheriff Court yesterday Sheriff John Horsburgh sentenced her to 35 weeks in prison.

The case has led to calls for tighter monitoring of staff at care homes. Councillor Lesley Hinds, health and social care spokeswoman for the Labour group on the city council, said: "We need to ensure that all care homes in the Capital have procedures to check their staff are properly trained and that the service they provide is monitored."

Nyatsanza was arrested after a colleague who witnessed the assault alerted police, Edinburgh Sheriff Court heard previously.

The witness said Mrs Burgoyne was seen sitting on a seat in a corridor at the facility during a night shift on 27 October, 2008.

Nyatsanza tried to pull Mrs Burgoyne up but she tumbled to the floor. Another assistant came to help Nyatsanza lift the patient, but as she left she heard a thud and Mrs Burgoyne shouting.

She then saw Mrs Burgoyne on the floor with Nyatsanza using both her arms to drag the pensioner along the carpet.

Thirty minutes later a staff nurse at the home found Mrs Burgoyne crying and in pain. A cut was discovered on her left foot as well as redness on her knees.

A doctor examined her the next day and found her shoulder had been dislocated, although it was noted that this could have been the result of her fall.

Nyatsanza, of Weir Court in Edinburgh, pleadedguilty to assault at a previous hearing last year.

Sheriff Horsburgh told Nyatsanza: "You were meant to be looking after people, but this woman was left badly bruised and with a dislocated shoulder. A custodial sentence is the only option."

Following the verdict, Kenny Valentine, regional director for Bupa Care Services said: "

We welcome the court's decision. Ms Nyatsanza's behaviour was wholly unacceptable and a gross breach of conduct."

Mrs Burgoyne passed away last year, and her family declined to comment on yesterday's sentence.