Carer caught slapping dementia patient on secret camera

Elder abuse is an issue we see pop up in the news again and again. Unfortunately for two sisters in Northampshire, UK, their worst fears were realised when they installed hidden cameras in their elderly mother’s home.

The daughters became suspicious of carer, Stacey George when they noticed a rapid decline in their mother’s health. 

A report from The Sun reveals the daughters found their mother, who suffers from dementia, partial blindness and diabetes, was being horrifically abused by her carer.

Footage from the hidden cameras shows their mother, Sabina Marsden, 78-years-old, sitting on the couch with a blanket to keep her legs warm—her 46-year-old carer was sitting next to her when she decided to start slapping Marsden on the face while yelling, “you stink!”.

George then proceeded to snatch the blanket from her legs. Daughter Gina Owen was at work at the time of the incident and saw it live streaming on her phone.

She returned home immediately to fire the carer and confront her.

According to The Sun, the carer apologised before being dismissed by her employer Mega Care.

The Marsden family told reporters that even with evidence of the assault the Northamptonshire Police only gave George a caution for her actions.

“It’s nothing more than a slap on the wrist, I can’t get my head around it.” Owen told The Sun.

Owen said mother’s health has improved drastically since the carers dismissal. The family is now taking further legal action against Stacey George.

Elder abuse is a growing issue all over the world and can manifest itself in number of forms – both physical, and mental.

A report from the Australian Institute of Family Studies (AIFS) from 2017 revealed one in 10 older Australians experience elder abuse each year and that most abuse is intra-familial and inter-generational.

Signs of elder abuse are often hard to spot, making it hard for family members, friends and care givers. In Sabina Marsden’s case her daughters luckily picked up on those subtle signs, telling The Sun that their mother would always squeeze their hands tightly before being left alone with her carer.

Over the coming years elder abuse will become even more of an issue with the AIFS predicting that by 2050 a little more than one-fifth of the population will be over the age of 65 while roughly five per cent of the population will be aged 85 or more.

Do you think there should be more of a focus on elder abuse within the community? Do you think enough is being done to prevent this sort of abuse from happening?

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