NURSE KNEED ELDERLY PATIENT
A NURSE who assaulted an 80-year-old Alzheimer's patient at a care home appeared before a court yesterday.Peter Summerson kneed the elderly man in the groin three times after using a mop handle to restrain him, and pushing him into a chair.
Summerson, a registered mental nurse, acted when he found the patient had walked into an office at Greenfield House, Newton Aycliffe, and been incontinent, Teesside Crown Court heard.
Summerson, 36, of Henderson Road, Newton Aycliffe, admitted common assault.
He was ordered to do 150 hours of community service.
Judge Leslie Spittle said that offences committed against patients in nursing homes justified a prison sentence, but in the circumstances of this particular case, and Summerson's circumstances, he did not think it was a case for immediate imprisonment.
Robert Terry, prosecuting, said the nursing home where Summerson worked in February had 50 residents including the 80-year-old man, who had been difficult and aggressive in the past because of his condition.
Mr Terry said three other care assistants at the home saw Summerson take the old man out of the office.
He pushed him down forcibly into an armchair where the patient was lashing out and shouting.
At some point, Summerson kneed him three times, using the handle of a mop across his chest, and pushing him back, said Mr Terry.
The care assistants were upset, and complained to their superiors.
After a hearing two days later, Summerson was dismissed.
David Rowlands, for Summerson, said he wanted to apologise to the patient and to his former work colleagues.
He had been a mental health nurse for 16 years, but his conviction meant an end to any employment in the profession.
He is looking to a career in a different direction and is taking an information technology course.
The nursing home had found it necessary to bring in procedures where as many as three members of staff were needed to perform simple tasks with him.
