11:37am Friday 16th December 2011
By Alexandra Womack
TEN people charged with neglecting and mistreating patients at a private hospital in Hambrook have appeared in court for the first time.
The seven men and three women, who are aged between 21 and 58, all worked at Winterbourne View Hospital which was the subject of a BBC Panorama programme in May.
Yesterday (Thursday, December 15) they appeared before North Avon magistrates in Yate charged with ill treatment and neglect offences under the Mental Health Act.
They are Charlotte Justine Cotterell, 21, from Yate; Wayne Stuart Rogers, 31, of Kingswood; Alison Dove, 24, also of Kingswood; Graham Doyle, 25, of Patchway; Holly Laura Draper, 23, of Mangotsfield; Sooaklingum Appoo, 58, of Downend and Daniel Brake, 27, also of Downend, all South Gloucestershire.
Also accused are Kelvin Fore, 33, from Middlesbrough; Michael Onyema Ezenagu, 28, of White City, London and Jason Gardiner, 44, of Hartcliffe, south Bristol.
They face a total of 40 charges against five victims.
No pleas were entered and all 10 were granted bail. They will appear at Bristol Crown Court on February 9.
Three men aged 25, 27 and 41, who have also been arrested on suspicion of causing ill treatment under the Mental Capacity Act, remain on police bail, pending further inquiries.
A 14th man, aged 40, who was arrested on suspicion of common assault has previously been released without charge.
Winterbourne View was closed in June and patients were transferred elsewhere. The Panorama programme has sparked reviews by the NHS, the government, South Gloucestershire Council’s Safeguarding Adults’ Board and Castlebeck, the firm which ran the hospital.
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