The deputy manager of a West Sussex specialised care home for elderly residents with mental health difficulties, including dementia, has been sent to prison for cruelty against seven people in her charge - six women and a man.
Madelynne Rawle, 61, unemployed, of Northcliffe Rd, Bognor, was given a 30-month prison sentence when she appeared at Portsmouth Crown Court on Friday 15 October.
In June 2021 she pleaded guilty to two counts of whilst a carer ill-treating and wilfully neglecting two people without capacity under the Mental Capacity Act 2005.
She was found guilty of further counts of the same offence against five residents, and was found not guilty of one such offence.
All the offences took place at the Summerley care home in Southview Rd, Bognor, where Rawle was working during 2018 having joined two years previously.
The prosecution, authorised by the CPS, followed an investigation by detectives from the West Sussex Safeguarding Investigations Unit.
Officers found that Rawle had in individual cases slapped residents, pulled their hair, spat at them, sat on them, forced them to sit and was verbally abusive.
All but two of the victims have since sadly died, for unrelated reasons.
Detective Constable Sarah Lallament said; "Rawle's victims were vulnerable adults who all required support 24/7 for day to day activities including basic hygiene and getting dressed, and assistance with eating.
"Staff began to be uneasy about Rawle's conduct, and they took advantage of a change in senior management at the end of 2018 to voice their concerns with the local authority who immediately contacted us and we launched an investigation.
"The current management of the home gave us their full co-operation, and this contributed to the positive outcome of our investigation."
"It is a specialist home, and relatives and the public would expect the care of their relatives to be of a good standard rather than being subject to the verbal and physical abuse to which Rawle subjected them over many months. "
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