Order for care home tormentor
A care worker who tormented a Walsall pensioner by flicking his ear and tickling his nose with a feather was today described as a "systematic bully" by a judge.
Emma Cleet also slapped the thigh, tilted the wheelchair and flicked the nose of Bernard Roberts over a year-long period at Woodhaven home in Walsall Wood. She was given 140 hours of unpaid work.
She pleaded guilty to ill-treating the 80-year-old between November 2007 and 2008 during a previous hearing at Wolverhampton Crown Court last month.
Cleet, of Ansty Drive, Cannock, appeared at the Waterfront, in Brierley Hill, where she was sentenced to a community order by Judge Jonathan Gosling.
Mr Roberts, know as Bunny, died in July with pneumonia. He had lived at Goodwood Drive, Streetly, before moving to the residential home.
The father-of-three suffered from Alzheimer's.
Hugh O'Brien-Quinn, prosecuting, said Cleet had carried out a series of childish acts which included laughing and swearing at him. She had been reported by other staff members
Jane Sarginson, defending, said the 21-year-old had been "under pressure" in her personal and professional life at the time.
Judge Gosling said: "Far from caring for Mr Roberts you systematically humiliated and bullied him," he said.
