by A carer caught on CCTV abusing his patient has been jailed for several hours.
Enow Tambe, 33, was one of two carers looking after the 60-year-old, who has learning difficulties and is registered blind. He required daily care and lived in supported accommodation, Manchester Crown Court heard.
After the man’s sister became concerned about his care, she put in a CCTV which revealed the appalling nature of Tambe’s care for him. He was seen shouting at the man, threatening to shake his head, punching him repeatedly and laughing at him when he had no choice but to urinate on the floor.
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Pleading guilty to being a carer who abused someone, he was jailed for 11 months.
The court heard that the 60-year-old man had learning difficulties, was blind and lived in supported accommodation provided by Manchester City Council.
He had 24 hour care with two carers attending to him during the day and one at night. This included Tambe, said David Lees, prosecuting.
“For a while [his] his sister was concerned about his care and installed CCTV in the flat,” he said.
On March 14 last year Tambe and another staff member were looking after the man. The quality of care deteriorated after Mr Lees arrived at Tambe he said.
“He asked them to change the TV, but the defendant left the other carer in the room and they both ignored him. He asked if anyone was there and accused the caretakers of ignoring him,” said the prosecutor.
“Mr Tambe was then seen shouting at him: ‘Are you there?’ The man asked them again to change the TV before Tambe said he would get in the shower and shave his head.
“He then punched him lightly in the shoulder before putting on gloves and getting an electric razor. He plugged it in and put it close to his head.”
The man was ‘clearly distressed’ at this point, the court heard. He could be heard begging for ‘one more chance’.
Tambe said that if the man insulted him he would ‘insult back’ before the man called him a ‘bad carer’. Tambe was seen slapping the back of his hand and waking him up several times and clapping loudly in his face making him jump.
He was again heard shouting ‘Are you there’ at the man as he repeatedly tapped his head.
“At 7.10pm he could be heard saying: ‘I’m going to die tonight’ and Tambe replied: ‘We’ll bury you,'” Mr Lees continued.
“He seemed very upset. Mr Tambe seems to be shaking him too, telling him to walk.”
In harrowing footage that was 40 minutes long, the man can be heard shouting: “Why are you ignoring me?” When Tambe was repeatedly touching him, he said: “Will you leave me alone.”
Tambe was then heard saying: “I want to play with you now,” before the man said: “You’re a bad carer”. Tambe replied: “I know.”
At one point he let the man urinate on the floor and laughed at him, the court heard.
Tambe was arrested and told the officers that he had done no harm.
The manager of the care home later said in a statement that it was a ‘barrage of emotional and physical abuse’ from morning to night, when the night shift carer took charge.
Michael Johnson, mitigating, said: “The defendant told the probation officer that this was the most challenging patient the staff had been tasked with looking after at the time. The defendant knows that he has let down many of his friends and colleagues. He deeply regrets his actions.”
Mr Johnson said Tambe had made ‘relentless demands’ and said he accepted he ‘shouldn’t be frustrated’.
“That’s what caring for people with learning disabilities is all about. That is why there are two people in the room,” said the judge who imposed the sentence.
Admitting this, Mr Johnson said his client was asked to work the shift ‘unexpectedly’ after receiving news of his grandfather’s sudden death. He said he is sorry and ashamed and has now ‘lost his good name’.
Sentencing him, Recorder Phillip Barnes said: “He had been bullied, harassed, harassed and abused for a number of hours. He was ignored and denied help when he asked for it. He was blind and could not see what was going on under him.
“He was called constantly, he was threatened with having his head shaved. He was teasing and pushing, not to harm but to intimidate, upset and bully.
“Sometimes he was touched eight, 12, fifteen times, which distressed him, and which he asked you not to do. You could be seen and heard laughing.”
He said he violated trust and targeted a man who was very vulnerable.
“It was difficult not because he wanted to encourage you or tried to encourage you, but because he had learning difficulties and was blind,” the judge continued.
“What scares me the most is that you’ve spent a lot of your life learning about people – you have a degree in social care – but you attacked him several times that evening.
“Not only have you let your career down, you’re a disgrace.”
Tambe, of Moss Lane, was jailed for 11 months
