Bilikesu Olagunju left Woolwich Crown Court a free woman when she was given six week suspended sentence after she pleaded guilty to ill-treating an individual as a care worker.
Olagunju, 42, of Congress Road in Abbey Wood, had been caught on camera manhandling, yanking, dragging and threatening 88-year-old John Attard, who had dementia.
John’s son, Christopher, reacting to the sentence, said that whilst it seemed a slight insult he would not give Olagunju a second thought.
Instead he said he will turn his attention towards the company who employed Olagunju and assigned her to his dad on her first day on the job, care agency Unique Personnel.
‘I will beat you’
Prosecutor James Benson said: “John was 88 years of age at the time of the offence. He had lived in the Hackney area of east London but about two years prior to the events he had come to live with his son at the family address in south London as he was too frail to return home following a period in hospital.”
Christopher and his wife jointly cared for John at their Bexley home but because they both worked, care workers would come to the address twice daily during the week.
At 11.20am on Christmas Eve 2022, Olagunju entered the home and was in John’s room for around 40 minutes.
Mr Benson said: “In summary, this incident included inappropriate yanking, pulling and manhandling of the victim, inappropriate raising of her voice, threats to the victim that she would call the police, she would have him taken to hospital and injected, she would beat him up and she would flog him.
“And also a failure to preserve his dignity, particularly in the course of washing him and at other times when he’s left hanging off the chair and lying on the floor.”
Mr Benson said Olagunju washed John “brusquely and unkindly”, leaving the curtains open, stripping him fully naked, and making no attempts to preserve his modesty with a towel.
She shouted at John when he struggled to stand whilst being washed, then yanked at him and allowed him to fall to the floor.
When Olagunju called her employer to explain that John was on the floor she was advised to call an ambulance but instead Olagunju decided to yank John up herself.
A video of the incident shows her dragging him by the arm, then by the scruff of his collar and throwing him down on a chair.
Whilst John was then slumped on the chair she made a number of threats.
“Maybe I will beat you up. I will flog you. I will take you to the GP to get injections. I will call the police on you,” she said.
Before she left she put marmalade in John’s coffee and strawberry jam on top of ham on toast – John was diabetic.
‘Unique Personnel should not have let you near an elderly person’
In a victim impact statement, Christopher said: “It was Christmas morning when I found my 88-year-old father unresponsive in bed. His eyes were open and his breathing was shallow.
“An ambulance was called and he was rushed to hospital. Police also attended my house and my father’s room was declared a crime scene. Police officers remained inside my house for most of the day to secure the scene.
“This was the morning after he was physically and verbally assaulted by the very person entrusted to care for him.”
Christopher described his dad as kind-hearted, generous, compassionate, funny and said he was still enjoying what life he had left.
He said to his wife, an experienced carer, it was clear that Olagunju had either not been sufficiently trained or chose to ignore her training.
“But your lack of training had nothing to do with how you treated him,” Christopher said.
“I constantly think about the fear he must have felt, the indignity of being dragged around and then being yanked off the floor and unceremoniously thrown back onto his chair. It must have been extremely distressing for him.
“But had none of this been captured on CCTV I would never have known what you did and you may still be entering the homes of elderly and vulnerable people to this day, which thankfully you’re not.”
Despite this, Christopher said he does not hold Olagunju fully responsible.
He said: “Personally, I believe the company that employed you should also be standing alongside you today. Especially when their website claims their team is composed of highly skilled and seasoned professionals.
“Instead, they have washed their hands of you and left you to face the consequences alone, whilst they face no consequences whatsoever. None.
“Had they done their due diligence you should never have been sent anywhere near an elderly person as you obviously do not have the right temperament to care for others.”
‘Failed in her duty as a carer’
Defending, Mr Tijani said Olagunju accepts full responsibility for her actions.
He said: “She has seen the videos several times and she could not believe she could behave in such a manner.
“She accepts that her behaviour must have caused great discomfort, unhappiness to the family and her behaviour cannot be acceptable in any decent society.”
Mr Tijani explained that Olagunju had recently arrived from aboard and her first appointment as a carer was with John.
“Part of what led to this unfortunate and sad event was lack of training. She was dealing with a vulnerable person for the first time who she was not equipped to deal with,” Mr Tijani said.
Judge Welsh, sentencing, said: “Mr Attard did not strike me as a particularly difficult client. Yes, he was confused and was slow to react, he might not have done exactly what he was told to do when you told him to do it, but surely that is exactly why he required a care worker.”
She accepted that Olagunju had not been sufficiently trained, but said that does not explain why she chose to ignore the advice to call an ambulance and why she verbally abused him as she did.
Judge Welsh sentenced Olagunju to six weeks imprisonment, suspended for 18 months.
She will be required to carry out 50 hours of unpaid work and 15 days rehabilitation activity.
