Care home owner and manager neglected residents

The owner and manager of a care home have been found guilty of the neglect of vulnerable residents after leaving them underweight and with bed sores.

Care home owner Annette Hopkins was convicted of 10 counts of neglect under the Mental Capacity Act at Southampton Crown Court yesterday while manager Margaret Priest was convicted of four counts.

Residents at the Briars Retirement Home in Southampton were found dehydrated and in pain and with gaps in their medication and food records. All of the affected residents lacked mental capacity.

Ruth Bowskill, senior district crown prosecutor for the Crown Prosecution Service, said: “I hope this conviction sends the clear message that the CPS is committed to prosecuting crimes committed against older people in care homes.”

Bowskill added that residents had been let down by Hopkins, 64, and Priest, 56, and that the standard of care was well below what they could have expected.

The Briars Retirement Home was closed by the Commission for social Care Inspection in 2008 when the neglect was uncovered following the admission of a resident to hospital.

Hopkins and Priest are due to be sentenced in August.

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