A CARE worker from Yate sacked after being found guilty of assaulting two elderly dementia victims in a residential home near Wotton-under-Edge has cleared her name at an appeal court.

Donna Clark, 49, of Whitley Close, Yate, had been convicted by magistrates of common assault on two female residents of Pennwood Lodge in Kingswood.

But at Gloucester Crown Court on Friday, both convictions were quashed by a judge sitting with two magistrates and she was awarded her defence costs.

Jubilant Ms Clark beamed with delight as the court overturned the convictions.

She had been accused by another care worker, Catherine Gardner, of treating the two residents, Alfreda Westmacott and Margaret Tomaszewski, roughly on February 12, 2015.

Ms Gardner said she helped 92-year-old Ms Westmacott get out of bed and called for help because she was being difficult.

Ms Clark arrived and pulled the elderly woman out of bed by her hands, marched her to her en suite room, forcibly pushed her down onto the toilet and then pulled off her wet clothes, she said.

She told the court Ms Clark pulled a nightie on over Ms Westmacott’s head but not over her arms and then left the room.

“I was shocked,” said Ms Gardner.

“Alfreda was incredibly distressed, crying, very upset.”

Later, said Ms Gardner, she was helping Ms Tomaszewski to have a drink from a beaker when Ms Clarke again intervened.

She alleged Ms Clark pushed the beaker into Ms Tomaszewski’s mouth, holding it there for ten seconds as she spluttered, coughed and went red in the face.

“She was visibly distressed and her eyes were watering,” she said.

In evidence, Ms Clark said she had worked as a carer at the home since 2011 and had qualifications.

Ms Gardner had been there only a month and had not worked previously in a care home.

She said when she went into Ms Westmacott's room in response to an alarm call from Ms Gardner she saw the elderly woman lying on the bed with her legs dangling off. Ms Gardner did not seem to know how to cope, she said.

Ms Clark said Ms Westmacott's bedding and clothes were wet so she helped her up and into her bathroom where she supported her down onto the toilet. She removed her clothes, fetched a large nightie and put it over her head so it covered her, she said.

“What I did was not forcible,” she insisted.

She told the court she intervened with Ms Tomaszewski because she was not sitting up properly to take her drink.

“I sat her up then put the drink to her lips,” she said.

“She did cough but she was 100 per cent fine.

“The way I gave her a drink was normal and in accordance with her care plan.”

A statement from Ms Westmacott’s daughter, Gillian Morgan, was read to the court. In it she said: “I do not believe Donna has assaulted my mother. I have known her two-and-a-half years and I have not had any cause for concern about the treatment of my mother.”

Allowing the appeals on both charges, the judge, Recorder James Townsend, said the court was not satisfied that events concerning Ms Westmacott amounted to assault in law.

“We are not sure that the facts can lead us to that conclusion,” he said.

Regarding Ms Tomaszewski, he continued: “We have no doubt Ms Clark could have handled the matter better. But while the incident may have been handled clumsily or badly, we are not satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that the evidence we have heard constitutes an assault rather than poor handling.”

Ms Clark had been sentenced after conviction to do 200 hours of unpaid community work.

The convictions, and therefore her sentence, were overturned by the court.