CARE assistants giving 24-hour care to a dementia sufferer were not told what condition he had or why he needed constant care, a court heard.

Interview transcripts from two care assistants were read to jury members in the trial of seven people charged with wilful neglect and a doctor accused of making false representations.

Alan Sayers, 52, who suffered from frontal lobe dementia, was found dead in his room at Mountleigh Care Home, Newbridge, on September 27, 2004 at around 4am.

He was supposed to be receiving 24-hour one-to-one care.

Rosslyn Jenkins, a care assistant employed by the home, found Mr Sayers’ body.

The court heard Jenkins went into Mr Sayers room at around 3am to sit with him and sat for a couple of minutes, then touched his body to find it cold. She then went and notified the qualified nurse on duty, Salisu.

She said she was not told the nature of Mr Sayers’ condition, but thought it was Alzheimers’s disease.

She said she often used to pop her head round the door of his room to check he was ok when she was doing other duties and had last checked at around 12.30am when she heard his loud snoring.

Jenkins said she was not sure why Mr Sayers had one-to-one care, but she was told he was not to be left alone unless he was asleep.

Interviews with agency care assistant, Margaret Lewis, were also read to the jury.

Lewis spent two hours, between 8pm and 10pm, with Mr Sayers on the night he died and remembered noting he was having a good night which was “unusual.”

She was working on the floor above for the rest of the evening and was only told of Mr Sayers’ death when she came down.

Lewis said no one explained what one-to-one care involved and she just used her common sense.

Proceeding.

Home's staff and doctor deny all charges

Mountleigh Care Home general manager Dawn Harris, 52, of Raglan Mews, Newport and care manager Enda Evans, 56, of Glyn Derw, Caerphilly, are jointly charged with wilfully neglecting Alan Sayers between December 18, 2002 and September 28, 2004 Care assistants Rosslyn Jenkins, 54, of Alexandra Place, Newbridge, and Michael Lurvey, 54, of Greenfield, Newbridge, qualified nurse Musediq Salisu, 47, of Viscount Evan Drive, Newport, and agency care assistants Margaret Lewis, 60, of Prospect Place, Cwmbran, and Chengeta Kaziboni, 34, of Cowbridge Road West, Cardiff, are jointly charged with wilfully neglecting Alan Sayers between September 25 and September 28 2004.

GP Sushma Ohja, 55, of Hillside Park, Bargoed, is charged with making false representations on Mr SayersÕs death certificate and cremation certificate and also falsely obtaining £50.70 from Gwent Police by claiming she attended the home in her capacity as a police doctor.

The care home is now called Millview House and Lodge and is run by Southern Cross Care Homes.