Worried sister installed secret CCTV at brother's home... she was left sickened by what she found
A carer who was captured on CCTV tormenting his patient over a number of hours has been jailed.
Enow Tambe, 33, was one of two carers who were looking after for the 60-year-old man, who has learning difficulties and is registered blind. He required round-the-clock care and lived in supported accommodation, Manchester Crown Court heard.
After the man’s sister became concerned about his care, she installed CCTV which captured the horrific nature of Tambe’s care of him. He could be seen shouting in the man's face, threatening to shave his head, poking him repeatedly and laughing at him when he had no choice but to urinate on the floor.
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Pleading guilty to being a carer causing ill-treatment of an individual, Tambe was jailed for 11 months.
The court heard that the man, aged 60, had learning difficulties, was blind and lived in supported accommodation provided by Manchester City Council.
He had 24 hour care with two carers attending in the day and one at night. This included Tambe, said David Lees, prosecuting.
“For some time [his] sister had concerns about his care and she installed CCTV into the flat,” he said.
On March 14 last year Tambe and another member of staff were caring for the man. The quality of care declined after Tambe arrivedMr Lees he said.
“He asked them to change the TV, but the defendant left the other carer in the room and both ignored him. He asked if anybody was there and accused the carers of ignoring him,” the prosecutor said.
“Mr Tambe was then seen to shout in his face: ‘Are you there?’ The man asked them again to change the TV before Tambe said he would put him in the shower and shave his head.
“He then lightly punched him in the shoulder before putting on some gloves and getting an electric razor. He plugged it in and put it close to his head.”
The man was ‘clearly distressed’ at this point, the court heard. He could be heard begging for ‘one more chance’.
Tambe said if the man insulted him he would ‘insult him back’ before the man called him a ‘bad carer’. Tambe was seen to slap the back of his hand and poke him numerous times and also clap loudly in his face causing him to jump.
He again could be heard shouting ‘Are you there’ in the man’s face and repeatedly tapped him on the head.
“At 7.10pm he could be heard to say: 'I will die tonight' and Tambe replied: 'We will bury you,'" Mr Lees continued.
“He appeared to be very distressed. Mr Tambe also appears to shake him, telling him to go for a walk.”
In distressing footage that was 40 minutes long, the man can be heard shouting: “Why are you ignoring me?” When Tambe was repeatedly touching him, he said: “Will you leave me alone.”
Tambe then could be heard saying: “I want to play with you now,” before the man said: “You’re a bad carer”. Tambe replied: “I know.”
At one point he let the man urinate on the floor and laughed at him, the court heard.
Tambe was arrested and told officers he didn’t mean any harm.
The care home manager later said in a statement that it was a ‘barrage of emotional and physical abuse’ from morning until night, when the night shift carer took over.
Michael Johnson, mitigating, said: “The defendant did say to the probation officer that at the time this was the most challenging patient that employees were tasked with caring for. The defendant knows he had let down many of his friends and colleagues. He bitterly regrets his actions.”
Mr Johnson said there were ‘incessant demands’ made towards Tambe and said he accepted he ‘should not have got frustrated’.
“That’s the nature of caring for people with learning disabilities. It’s the reason why two people are in the room,” the sentencing judge said.
Conceding this, Mr Johnson said his client was asked to work the shift ‘unexpectedly’ after he had received news of the sudden death of his grandfather. He added that he has remorse and shame and has now ‘lost his good name’.
Sentencing him, Recorder Phillip Barnes said: “He was being bullied, harassed, belittled and abused for a number of hours. He was ignored and refused help when he asked for it. He was blind and couldn’t see what was going on about him.
“He was shouted at in close quarters, he was threatened to have his head shaved. He was poked and prodded, not to harm but to intimidate, upset and bully.
“At times he was touched eight, 12, fifteen times, something which distressed him, and something he asked you not to do. You could be seen and heard to laugh.”
He said he had ‘breached trust’ and targeted a man who was seriously vulnerable.
“He was difficult not because he wanted to be or sought to provoke you, but because he had learning difficulties and he was blind,” the judge continued.
“What terrifies me the most is you have spent a lot of your life learning about people - you have a degree in social care - yet you assaulted him on a number of occasions that afternoon.
“You have not just potentially let down your career, you have disgraced it.”
Tambe, of Moss Lane, Middleton, was jailed for 11 months.