A Biggleswade care home worker who left an 86-year-old patient helpless on the floor for more than an hour has been given a suspended sentence.

Ramatu Sarah Airemen, of New Bedford Road in Luton, was one of two night staff on duty at the care home on June 22, 2011, when the elderly man – who had Alzheimer’s disease – fell from a chair.

CCTV fitted by the care home manager, who had already become concerned about the standard of Airemen’s work, showed her sweeping around him and making no attempt to communicate with him for more than an hour.

When her colleague eventually fetched a wheelchair, the pair lifted the elderly man into it without a hoist – disregarding proper procedure – and failed to fill in revelant paperwork such as accident forms and handovers.

Airemen, 61, was afterwards dismissed from the care home – and has now been sentenced to four months’ imprisonment, suspended for 12 months, after a jury at Luton Crown Court found her guilty of neglecting a vulnerable adult.

When interviewed by police, Airemen falsely told officers she had used a hoist to lift the victim into the wheelchair – and initially denied she was the person seen in the CCTV footage.

Even though she knew the man’s medical history and that he was prone to falls, she told police she had assumed he had put himself on the floor.

Speaking after the sentencing, Det Con Ian Clarke of Beds police said Airemen had “completely neglected” her victim’s welfare.

DC Clarke said: “Despite the training she had received to enable her to correctly deal with people who had fallen and people with dementia, Airemen did not follow procedure and showed little regard for the elderly man.

“At one point, she sat down in a chair next to the victim while he was left on the floor.

“Airemen was fully aware of the patient’s medical history, and knew a previous fall had required hospital treatment for a hip injury.

“By assuming he had put himself on the floor and not attempting to communicate with him, she completely neglected his welfare.

“The force is committed to protecting the most vulnerable people in our society – nobody should be treated in this way, particularly by someone who is supposed to have their best interests at heart.”

In addition to the suspended sentence, Airemen must complete 200 hours of unpaid community work.

Her co-defendent, a 42-year-old woman, was convicted after an earlier trial.