A Nigerian caregiver, Bilikesu Olagunju, has been caught on a hidden camera ab8sing an 88-year-old dementia patient, John Attard, in his home in Bexley, Kent, just a day before he was found unresponsive and later d!ed in the hospital
The disturbing CCTV footage, recorded on Christmas Eve 2022, showed Olagunju dragging the frail man across the floor, stripping him in view of the street, shouting threats, and ignoring his repeated cries of pain.
“Maybe I will beat you up. I will flog you. I will take you to the GP to get injections. I will call the police on you,” she said during the 45-minute ordeal.
Olagunju, 42, had been on the job for just six days with care agency Unique Personnel UK. She pleaded guilty at Woolwich Crown Court to a charge of ill-treatment or wilful neglect of a person in her care.
She was sentenced to six weeks in prison, suspended for 18 months, and ordered to complete 50 hours of unpaid community service.
The next morning, Mr. Attard was found unresponsive in bed by his son, Chris, with blood on the side of his face. He was rushed to the hospital but never regained consciousness and d!ed ten days later.
Though the post-mortem could not directly link the abuse to his d8ath, the family believes the trauma played a major role.
“If those cameras weren’t there, she could still be doing this to another vulnerable person,” said Chris Attard, who described the sentence as disappointing and inadequate.
The court heard how Olagunju ignored instructions from her employer to call an ambulance when Mr. Attard fell, instead continuing to drag and manhandle him. She was also seen pouring marmalade into his coffee despite his diabetes and spilling hot coffee on him while removing a table.
Throughout the footage, Mr. Attard cried out, “You’re hurting me,” to which Olagunju coldly responded, “I’ll flog you,” and made more threats. Chris said the expression on his father’s face was one of intense pain and fear, calling her treatment of him “like a rag doll.”
Chris, who broke down while addressing the court, described how the abuse has left lasting emotional scars on the family: “When this becomes a distant memory for you, our pain will remain. If you can’t understand how I feel, imagine if I had done this to your loved one.”
Judge Charlotte Welsh condemned the lack of proper training, saying, “It beggars belief that someone would be assigned a vulnerable elderly man with dementia as their first client.” She emphasized that Olagunju failed to treat Mr. Attard with basic human dignity, leaving his family with haunting final memories.
Olagunju wept silently in court. Her lawyer, Mr. Tijani, said she was “ashamed” of her actions and suffering mental distress. He noted that she had no previous convictions and was new to the UK, assigned to a difficult case without proper preparation.
After the sentencing, Chris turned his anger toward Unique Personnel UK, the agency that hired Olagunju. He accused the company of gross negligence, saying, “They should have been in the dock too. If they had done their due diligence, she would never have been sent near an elderly person.”
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