A nurse who worked at an Ilkeston care home escaped being sent to prison and was handed an £845 court bill for ill-treating defenceless pensioners, has failed in Appeal Court challenges to her sentence and bill.
Nina Teresa Strange, 48, of Old Coppice Side, Heanor, hit OAPs and once dipped a toothbrush into bathwater which a 72-year-old dementia sufferer had soiled and used it to wash her mouth at Rutland Manor Nursing Home.
In May, she was convicted at D
erby Crown Court of five counts of ill-treatment and handed a 12-week prison sentence, suspended for two years, and ordered to do 200 hours' unpaid community work and to pay £845 costs.
Despite only narrowly escaping jail, Strange objected to her sentence and her court bill and took her case to the Criminal Appeal Court in London, where she was told she got no more than she deserved for such serious offences.
Dismissing her appeal, Judge Michael Brodrick, who heard the case with Lord Justice Toulson and Mr Justice Griffith Williams, told how Strange had hit the pensioners when she was angry and frustrated.
In separate incidents, an elderly man was hit over the head twice, once with a pack of wipes and once with her palm, when she took him to use the toilet.
A woman had her hair pulled when she was slow in getting into bed, and another hit over the head with a pack of wipes.
Strange also warned a young trainee that, if anyone heard of the abuse, she would know where the information had come from.
Sentencing her, Judge Andrew Hamilton said she had treated the pensioners with "complete contempt" and in the "most appalling way".
Challenging the sentencing decisions, lawyers representing Strange argued that the judge had been wrong to impose a suspended sentence and wrong to order that she pay prosecution costs.
Her behaviour was the result of momentary losses of patience, rather than deliberate ill-will towards the victims, they argued.
But, dismissing the arguments, Judge Brodrick said: "In our judgment, that underestimates the gravity of what she did.
"She was in a position of trust to those in her care, who were vulnerable, both physically and mentally.
"She was trusted by her employers and the families of those who she was caring for to treat them properly.
"We cannot accept this was a momentary loss of patience."
He added that the fact that she had been paying £30 weekly instalments towards her costs bill showed that she had the means to pay, and upheld the order.
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