Care home worker found guilty of ill treating dementia sufferers could face prison term

Siobhan Koralewski, 30, was a senior carer and deputy manager at Roundstones care home in the seaside town when both her and her mother Margaret Koralewski were arrested in connection with ill-treatment of residents in 2012.

The women denied a total of nine charges involving four residents but at the end of a seven-day trial yesterday, Siobhan Koralewski was found guilty on five counts.

Margaret Koralewski, 67, who acquired the care home with her husband in 2004, was cleared of all four charges against her.

The care home specialised in providing care for people with dementia, but the court heard how three of the victims were dementia sufferers - Joan Normington, 92, Kenneth Pinkney, 88, and Elizabeth Hall, 59, who also suffered from Down’s Syndrome and learning difficulties.

Harold Waller, 91, a stroke victim, was also found to have suffered under the care of Siobhan Koralewski.

Her brother Jeremy, who worked as a cook at the home, and his partner Jennifer Price, who was a care worker, both testified to the ill-treatment during the trial.

Prosecutor Nicholas Askins told Teesside Crown Court yesterday: “Each of the four victims lacked capacity – they were unable to make decisions for themselves about their own care.

“They were singled out because of their difficulties, the defendants believing, with good reason, that they would be unable to do anything about the ill-treatment.”

As he adjourned the case for sentencing, Judge Howard Crowson told Siobhan Koralewski: “These cases sometimes attract prison sentences. It’s not inevitable. But you must be aware that that is a possibility.”

She was bailed to reappear at Teesside Crown Court for sentencing on December 19.