Nurse 'worst nightmare' for elderly patients

Published 18 Feb 2010 09:44 0 Comments

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SHAMED: Margaret Richmond

By Ewan McInnes

A TWISTED nurse has been condemned as 'a worst nightmare' for families of elderly dementia sufferers.

Margaret Richmond, described as a 'witch' after slapping an elderly resident in her care, narrowly escaped a jail term and has instead been ordered to carry out 240 hours of community service.

Sentencing her, Sheriff Neil Douglas warned that if she failed to comply, she would be locked up.

Sheriff Douglas said Richmond had committed offences of 'deliberate and despicable cruelty' to two of the elderly women in her care.

And her 22-year nursing career is now in tatters.

The sheriff told Richmond: "You are a disgrace to the nursing profession" and added he was glad to learn she had asked to be de-registered.

Paisley Sheriff Court heard last month how staff at the Westlea Care Home in Neilston, were shocked at the way Margaret Richmond conducted herself.

As reported in the Barrhead News last month, the 54-year-old went on trial charged with committing a string of assaults on elderly woman between 2007 and 2008.

It was claimed she carried out five different assaults on those in her care, mistreating her alleged victims - aged between 74 and 88-years-old over a ten-month period.

After hearing damning evidence given against her by a former colleague Richmond returned to court in the afternoon where she admitted assaulting a patient, then aged 86, and slapping her on the face between January 1 2008 and January 16 the same year.

She also admitted to, between January 2007 and the same month the following year, assaulting an 88-year-old patient and pulling her ear with her fingers.

The three other charges against Richmond, included stamping on the foot of a 74-year-old, striking an 88-year-old on the head with a newspaper and pushing an 82-year-old, were dropped after she pled guilty to the two charges.

Sheriff Douglas had deferred sentence and called for background reports and a community service assessment, ordering Richmond to return to court on Monday to learn her fate.

When her defence agent Stephen Hughes revealed that up until Richmond had heard evidence against her, she had still been in denial and found it difficult to accept her behaviour as assault, the sheriff asked: "Are you serious?"

Sheriff Douglas added: "Your client is close to being the worst nightmare for those families."

Mr Hughes conceded it was difficult to imagine individuals who were more vulnerable than dementia sufferers who were being cared for. He added they were entitled to expect not to be treated in the manner subjected to by his client, who was now deeply ashamed of her conduct.

Sentencing her, Sheriff Douglas said that although the offences were serious, the actual nature of the assaults put them at the lower end of the scale and he felt imprisonment was unnecessary.

He told her: "You are a disgrace to the nursing profession and I am glad to hear that you have told them you do not wish to continue."

Upon hearing that Richmond had avoided jail, Kenny Murray, whose gran stayed in Westlea Care Home when the heartless nurse worked there, told the Barrhead News: "First things first I am disgusted with this decision.

"This proves my point that she is an out and out coward.

"She pled guilty because she wouldn't have been able to handle being subjected to the treatment she subjected her patient to.

"It is a bit of a blow but at the same time I am happy it has been highlighted and no one will ever again have to suffer at her hands.

"The punishment doesn't fit the crime by any means.

"She will pay the price for what she has done at some point in her life and I hope the rest of her life is filled with regret.

"It is a horrible, horrible feeling to know your gran can stay in a care home and possibly be treated like that by an experienced nurse."

This article appeared in Barrhead News 17 Feb 10

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