A CARE home worker from York has narrowly avoided jail for what a judge called a “disgraceful” assault on an 85-year-old dementia sufferer.

Pauline Molineaux, 54, was given a three-month suspended prison sentence with supervision and 300 hours of unpaid community work.

She roughly treated Patricia Loudon at The Lodge in Heslington, near York, last December, Teesside Crown Court was told yesterday.

Prosecutor John Gillette said the pensioner was left distressed after being taken back to her room against her will and “forcefully” undressed.

She screamed out for her deceased mother, punched the wall and tried to bite Molineaux, the judge, Recorder William Lowe, QC, heard.

Matthew Gent, mitigating, said the resident was often difficult, but Molineaux should have “backed off and let the situation cool down”.

He told the judge his client had worked for 20 years in the care industry, often for little reward.

“It was her vocation . . . her life,” he said.

Molineaux, of The Village, Haxby, admitted common assault after accepting at some point the resident’s hair was pulled.

Mr Recorder Lowe said he had been considering an immediate prison sentence, but said the public would be better served by community work. The court heard that another worker at the home who saw what had happened alerted management and the police were called in.

Molineaux was suspended while an internal investigation was carried out. She will not return to care work, Mr Gent told the judge.

He said Molineaux – who had been in line for promotion – now worked as a cleaner at a supermarket and earned more than she did as a carer.

“She had not been employed by the care home for very long and had already been given a degree of responsibility,” said Mr Gent.

“The responsibility she was given in terms of being the senior carer on her shift was not rewarded or reflected in her pay.

“It was a difficult job and a difficult working environment which proved too much for her to cope with, but it is clear she didn’t carry out her work for financial reward.

"She is a caring person who worked in this field for more than 20 years because she wanted to help those less fortunate than her.

“She is genuinely remorseful and quoting the pre-sentence report, she is described as having felt horrific and devastated by the way she behaved.”

Mr Recorder Lowe told Molineaux: “She should have been treated with respect and dignity but against her wishes, you took her to bed.”

In a basis of plea, Molineaux denied claims that she threw the resident on to her bed and restrained her by kneeling on her.