Care home worker jailed for abusing residents with dementia almost 40 times

Sharlene Bosita’s offending was discovered by chance by colleagues.

A care worker has been jailed for abusing three care home residents with dementia almost 40 times (Derbyshire Police/PA)

A care worker has been jailed for abusing three care home residents with dementia almost 40 times.

Sharlene Bosita was seen on CCTV making it look like she was about to elbow residents, slapping them with gloves and pulling and pushing them, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said.

The 30-year-old’s victims were all in their 80s and had dementia, with the repeated abuse leaving them “confused, frail and vulnerable”, the CPS said.

Bosita, of Boythorpe, near Chesterfield, Derbyshire, was caught when colleagues checked CCTV for an unrelated matter and saw footage of her pushing a resident into a chair.

While individually the level of violence Bosita used was relatively minor, over a prolonged period there can be no doubt that her actions will have caused significant emotional and physical harm to her victims

Graham Heathcote, CPS East Midlands

She pleaded guilty to three counts of ill-treatment or neglect by a care worker in February and was sentenced to nine months in prison by Recorder Sunil Khanna at Derby Crown Court on Monday.

Graham Heathcote, senior crown prosecutor at the CPS East Midlands, said: “Sharlene Bosita behaved with callous cruelty towards three people she was employed to look after and protect.

“While individually the level of violence Bosita used was relatively minor, over a prolonged period there can be no doubt that her actions will have caused significant emotional and physical harm to her victims.

“Given their vulnerability, it was important to establish the extent of Bosita’s criminal behaviour, for which she has now been held to account.”