A NURSE who branded dementia patients “disgusting” for soiling their bedding and threatened to strangle a woman with a scarf faces being struck off.

Christina Cooper physically and verbally abused three patients at Connaught Care Home in Fulford, which is run by the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution.

The Nursing and Midwifery Council in London found a catalogue of charges against Cooper proved, including that she told a resident he was “acting like an animal” before threatening to throttle another.

She also called a patient an “animal”, shoved a patient’s soiled sheet in his face and told him: “When dogs do this, their owners rub their noses in it”.

Care assistant Amy Redpath told the panel how Cooper barged into patients’ rooms during the night, switched the main light on, and roughly changed their incontinence pads.

Cooper told one man, referred to as Patient A, he was “disgusting” as she changed his bedding on October 9, 2009.

“I remember Christina pulling the covers back with little or no communication, scooping up resident A with both hands in order to turn him over in bed,” said Ms Redpath. “This was done quite roughly and I remember the resident being very startled and shocked, holding out for something as a sort of reflex action.

“It was horrible to watch, and it was horrible because I couldn’t do anything about it.”

Cooper had denied all allegations against her. Charges that she failed to provide one resident with appropriate care and verbally abused another by stating to her that she was “being stupid” and “acting like a child” were found not proved.

The NMC panel will resume at a later date to decide whether the facts found proved amount to misconduct and then move to sanction.

Cooper was immediately suspended from the care home after concerns were raised, the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution said.