A carer stuffed a towel into the mouth of a woman with disabilities to stop her from screaming in distress, a jury has been told.
Fidela Chilcott, 57, allegedly gagged Beverley Baker, 55, who uses a wheelchair and has speech difficulties, as she dried her after a bath at a care home.
Chilcott denies ill-treating or neglecting Baker, who was a resident at the Wraxall Road care home in Cadbury Heath, near Bristol.
Ramin Pakrooh, prosecuting, told Bristol crown court many residents of the home, which is run by the Brandon Trust, were difficult and challenging.
He said: “Being a carer is an involved and difficult job. The person has to be able to deal with the stress – not some of the time, but all of the time. Miss Baker was exhibiting challenging behaviours that were not unusual for her. It would manifest in cries and screaming, and workers were trained to deal with it.
“The defendant’s response was to take the end of a towel and force it into her mouth, in effect gagging her. That was a rather inappropriate response to her not being able to manage her own stress. It is their [carers’] job not to lose their temper.”
Colleague Joanne Edwards said she saw Chilcott, of Warmley, near Bristol, “roughly” shove a towel into Baker’s mouth twice to quieten her. She told the court Baker was not cooperating with carers and had not drunk enough water or taken her medication, so she and the defendant bathed her.
Edwards said: “She was very, very agitated, screaming, which is something she does if she is not happy with the situation. We were trying to dry her, to get that done quickly, and she was screaming.
“At that point, Fidela put the top bit of the towel in her mouth. She did it roughly – it was not forced, but it was put into her mouth to stop her screaming. It was there for two seconds before Bev was able to take it out. She pulled it out with her hand.
“Bev carried on screaming and I was trying to get her to calm down, talking to her, then Fidela put the towel back in her mouth a second time. Fidela seemed very agitated because of Bev’s manner, but you don’t put a towel in somebody’s mouth – full stop.”
Jurors were told that the incident, in April last year, was not the first time Edwards had been concerned about her colleague’s conduct.
She claimed that four months earlier, the defendant “shoved” – rather than rolled – Baker when they were cleaning up after she had been sick. On another occasion, Chilcott allegedly slapped the patient’s wrist and told her aggressively: “Now behave.”
The trial continues.
