Care assistant for the elderly faces court on abuse charges

A CARE assistant abused, smacked and threatened to "deck" elderly dementia patients at a residential home, a court was told.

Sarah Pilkington behaved more like someone "picking a fight in a bar" than a care worker looking after vulnerable pensioners, Plymouth Crown Court heard.
Llewellyn Sellick, prosecuting, said the three victims were dementia patients unable to give evidence themselves.
Kelly Hogan, another care assistant, told the court she had seen Pilkington pull one patient around "aggressively" and that she had been "upset and disgusted" by what she had witnessed.
 Another colleague said she saw her lash out at a man who tried to move a chair.

Pilkington, 34, of Plymouth, denies four counts of ill-treating people at Plymouth's Hartley Park Care Home, starting in 2012.
The trial continues.