Muckamore Abbey Hospital should been 'a place of care and safety for patients but unfortunately it turned out to be a place of abuse,' says judge as he sentences support worker
A judge said Muckamore Abbey Hospital should have been a place of care and safety for patients "but unfortunately it turned to be a place of abuse".
District Judge Nigel Broderick was speaking at Antrim Magistrates' Court, sitting in Ballymena, where a woman who was working at Muckamore was sentenced for ill-treating a patient on May 13, 2017.
Jenna Johnston (41), of Durnish Road, Antrim, pleaded guilty. Footage of an incident was shown to the judge. The defendant was a healthcare support worker.
The victim was 18 at the time and had a learning disability and was diagnosed with 'ASD, ADHD, OCD' who used "makaton over verbal speech".
He had been admitted to a hospital ward on May 7, 2017. Around 9.30pm on May 13 the patient was at a staff area of Cranfield Ward and when a nurse and a male staff member pulled the victim up from a seat.
The patient "went to" the floor and the nurse let go and the male healthcare worker "began to drag him along the floor by his left arm," a prosecutor said. The court was told that staff member is also facing charges.
As the male continued to drag the patient, Johnston then took the patient by his right arm and together they brought him to his feet and "escorted" him out of the area towards the bedroom corridor.
The patient was "pulled" along the corridor and he "resisted" by pulling away and "kicking out" at the male healthcare support worker "before going to the floor".
The prosecutor said the male employee appeared to lift the patient "by his feet off the ground, still pulling him along the corridor" and Johnston "continued to hold" the victim up by his right arm and his left arm was "dragging behind him along the floor". The patient was then "dragged into his bedroom" by the two staff members.
Care Plan
When interviewed by police the defendant said she did know the patient's medical conditions nor know his care plan and nobody had ever asked her to read the documents.
From watching the footage she told police she felt she had "acted as a reflex" to help the patient get back on his feet after he "went to the ground" and she was not paying attention to the male healthcare worker.
When the patient "became aggressive" the focus was on moving him to his "own space" where he would be "more comfortable and could decompress".
As the teenager was kicking out she said she felt her male colleague was "protecting himself from being kicked" and that the patient was being moved "to reduce the risk of injury to everyone".
During the police interview she "didn't accept" she had ill-treated the patient. A defence barrister said the interview had not taken place until 2025 and following the "shock" of viewing the footage a guilty plea was then entered. Johnston, it was said, had an "otherwise unblemished" career.
The lawyer said the defendant said she had an "excellent relationship" with the patient and the incident before the court was a "one-off, isolated" incident lasting "30 seconds" in an "extremely challenging ward".
The barrister said the defendant had been holding the patient's arm when he began to kick out and drop to the floor and "thankfully there were no injuries sustained" but on reflection she accepts it "should have been handled much better" and offers an apology to the patient and his family.
The court was told the defendant has been suspended from her job as a healthcare support worker by a Health Trust pending the outcome of the case.
Judge Broderick said it was a "serious matter" which involved the "ill-treatment of an extremely vulnerable patient who was detained in Muckamore for treatment and to assist them with the very many challenges" he faced.
The judge said it "should have been a place of safety, a place of care, but unfortunately it turned out to be a place of abuse". He told the defendant the footage "does you no credit whatsoever".
Judge Broderick said to see the patient "dragged and manhandled across the floor" was "wholly inappropriate".
He said a pre-sentence report said it was a serious but isolated occurrence and Johnston presented as a "low likelihood of re-offending".
She had demonstrated remorse and there had been a nine year gap in the case coming to court, the judge added. He anticipated the defendant losing healthcare employment as a result of the case.
The judge had read a "moving" statement provided by victim's mother. She told of the challenges her son presented with and said he has a memory of the Muckamore incident which has affected him and how he relates to other care workers.
The judge said the custody threshold was crossed but there had been a guilty plea, clear record, and expressions of remorse. He handed down a five months prison term, suspended for two years.
Judge Broderick said the footage had been "quite distressing" and added: "If that was your loved one and you admitted them to Muckamore to get treatment and to see the way they were treated it would be quite harrowing".
The court was told the patient is now in a new health care setting. A number of other employees from Muckamore Abbey have appeared at court in recent years charged with a range of offences on various dates.