Carer guilty of child cruelty

[annie]

A CARER who dragged a teenage boy with autism along a corridor at an East Lancashire care home has been convicted of child cruelty.

Preston Crown Court heard Laura Hartley, 25, was frustrated with the youngster as he was refusing to have a bath — and she dragged him by the ankles to the bathroom.

When confronted by a shocked co-worker, Hartley, an education care mentor at Beacon Reach, Ribchester, said: “You have just got to do whatever to get them in there.”

The court heard the boy — who cannot be identified for legal reasons — suffered a small injury to his back where it had been in contact with the floor.

The youngster suffers from severe autism and on April 8 had been uncooperative about going for his bath following a visit from his parents. Hartley and her co-worker Rebecca Armer tried to guide the youngster along the corridor from his bedroom to the bathroom by his arms. But halfway along the corridor, the youngster dropped to the floor and refused to go any further.

At this stage, Hartley grabbed the boy by his ankles and pulled him into the bathroom, the court heard.

Miss Armer was so shocked and upset by what she had seen she spoke to a colleague the following day and gave a written statement to her line manager.

http://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/ne ... _bathroom/

[maureenho]

It's wicked and cruel, and they call them a CARER, I would call them SCUM.

[Rosalind]

That is absolutely disgusting.

[daisy]

Disgraceful behaviour - it's really sad that such people are actually paid whilst doing that.