A CARER hit and manhandled a vulnerable patient at a Lostock Gralam care home, unaware he was being covertly recorded by concerned family members.

Agency carer Vangirai Michael Kufa, of Croxdale Road in Liverpool, was filmed ignoring 67-year-old Avandale Lodge resident George Stenhouse, whose rare brain disease had left him unable to communicate.

After 11 minutes of scrolling through his phone while Mr Stenhouse pulled at his arm, Kufa stood up and slapped his patient on the genitals three separate times.

He was then seen to crudely hoist Mr Stenhouse from his bed to his wheelchair – ignoring the care plan’s instructions that two or more carers, plus equipment, should be used to carefully move the patient.

In fact, Kufa admitted to police officers that he had not looked at Mr Stenhouse’s care plan at any point up to the incident on February 28, 2018, since the beginning of his night-shift employment through Lastminute Nursing agency three months earlier.

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After moving him to the chair, Kufa was seen ‘shadow boxing’ in front of Mr Stenhouse’s face.

Mr Stenhouse’s condition, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, meant a loss of intellect, memory, and ability to communicate – although he still felt pain and emotions.

The family of Mr Stenhouse, who has since passed away, told the court of the impact Kufa’s crimes had had on them as he was sentenced to nine months in jail.

Northwich Guardian:

His daughter, Catherine Walker, had installed the camera in the bedroom after Mr Stenhouse fell out of bed – something that concerned the family given he was purportedly receiving one-to-one care day and night.

Ms Walker said: “The system failed him in the biggest possible way. The situation was deeply disturbing. This has broken my heart.”

Mr Stenhouse’s wife said the day staff at Avandale Lodge were ‘wonderful’ and ‘caring’, but the family knew something was wrong when he became jumpy, scared and agitated.

She said: “The hardest thing I have ever had to do is put my husband of 42 years in a home.

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“When you put a loved member of the family in someone else’s care and that is abused it breaks your heart and that is unforgivable.”

Kufa’s defence was that the footage did not show the positive relationship that existed between him and Mr Stenhouse – whom he called ‘Mr George’.

He had been due to face trial last month, but pleaded guilty to ill-treatment and neglect before the hearing could take place.

His Honour Judge Simon Berkson told Kufa: “This was not a moment of madness, but lasted some 18 minutes.

“We have seen part of the harrowing footage and heard the effects of your criminal behaviour.

“What you did was heartless and unkind and, in view of your employment, a serious breach of trust.”

Kufa will serve half of his nine-month sentence, and is barred from working with vulnerable adults.

A spokesman for HC-One - the company which owns Avandale Lodge - said: "Mr Kufa was employed by a temporary staffing agency and worked at our home in early 2018.

“His behaviour goes against everything we stand for as an organisation, and we handle these concerns in the strongest possible way.

"When his behaviour first came to light, we immediately made sure he did not work in any of our homes again.

"We subsequently provided all possible support to the affected resident and their loved ones, and did everything we could to help the police investigation.

"We fully support the court’s decision and retain a zero-tolerance approach any behaviour which goes against our ethos of kindness.”

DC Chris Percival, of Northwich CID, said: “The victim’s family placed their trust in Kufa to look after and care for their father in his dying days – and he totally abused this trust.

“The victim was suffering from a rare debilitating disease and had moved to the home to receive the specialist care and support that he required.

“However, Kufa was more interested in his phone than he was of doing his job of looking after the elderly man.

“During questioning he even admitted that he had not read the victim’s care plan, despite the fact that he had been working as his carer for more than a month.

“Sadly, the victim in this case has since passed away as a result of his illness and will never know that his abuser has now been brought to justice for what he subjected him to.

“However, I hope that Kufa’s conviction will allow the victim’s family to move forward with their lives, knowing that he will never be able to subject any other family to such an appalling experience.”