COVENTRY CARE WORKER JAILED FOR SETTING FIRE THAT KILLED ELDERLY PATIENT
A care worker named Leanne Devenny, aged 21 and residing in Coventry, has been given a prison sentence after killing an elderly patient with dementia by deliberately setting her bed on fire.Devenny admitted to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility, along with charges of arson, in Leicester Crown Court.
She used a cigarette lighter to ignite the bedding of Irene Watling, aged 83, while the woman was asleep at a care home in July of the prior year.
Justice Charles Wide QC mandated a minimum jail term of three years and imposed an indefinite public protection sentence.
Although Devenny contacted emergency services, she did not alert them to the presence of smoke from Mrs.
Watling’s room.
She subsequently called the fire brigade after the incident, during which Mrs.
Watling suffered extensive burns.
The court was informed that Devenny was a young mother with a profound personality disorder.
Police investigations indicated that her motives for the arson were never established, despite her apparently solid performance at work and her being considered for a supervisory role.
Judge Wide condemned her actions, stating: “On 9 July last year, you set two fires in a care home you were employed at, betraying the trust placed in you.
Those residents, many of whom were elderly and disabled, depended on your care.
Instead of helping them, you caused the death of one, an elderly vulnerable woman.” Detective Chief Inspector Adrian Atherley highlighted that her reasons for the crime remain unknown, despite her employment at the facility.
