Director of homes for the disabled guilty of neglect

Director of homes for the disabled guilty of neglect

A director of two private homes for mentally disabled people was yesterday convicted of wilfully neglecting residents in her care.

Angela Rowe, 39, was found guilty of wilful neglect by denying adequate toiletries and rationing toilet paper. Kingston Crown Court had heard residents would sometimes have to use curtains to wipe themselves when the toilet paper ran out.

Rowe, of Windsor, Berkshire, faces two further counts of ill-treating patients at Stoke Place Mansion House and Stoke Green House in Stoke Poges, Buckinghamshire. The charges cover a 10-year period, from when the first home opened in 1983, to 1993.

The jury also convicted one of Rowe's senior care supervisors of ill- treating one of the mentally disabled residents. Lorraine Field, 42, of Stoke Poges, Buckinghamshire, was found guilty of repeatedly slapping Christopher Queffurous, who was blind, across the back of his head as he cowered in a chair.

Desmond Tully, 33, who now runs a home near Exeter, Devon, was found not guilty of one charge against him on Friday. He also faces three further counts of ill-treatment. The jury will return today to consider the eight outstanding charges. Judge John Baker had earlier directed them to find the defendants not guilty of another four charges of ill-treatment. Louise Jury