A UK-based Nigerian caregiver, Bilikesu Olagunju, has been sentenced for the violent abuse of an 88-year-old dementia patient, John Attard, in an incident captured on CCTV just a day before the elderly man was found unresponsive and later died in hospital.
The distressing footage, recorded on Christmas Eve 2022 in Bexley, Kent, showed Olagunju dragging Mr Attard across the floor, stripping him, ignoring his cries of pain, and threatening him with violence during a 45-minute ordeal.
“You are hurting me,” Mr Attard is heard pleading, as Olagunju callously responded:
“Maybe I will beat you up. I will flog you. I will take you to the GP to get injections. I will call the police on you.”
The 42-year-old caregiver, who had only been employed for six days by Unique Personnel UK, was assigned Mr Attard as her first client. She pleaded guilty at Woolwich Crown Court to ill-treatment or wilful neglect of a person lacking mental capacity.
The court sentenced her to six weeks in prison, suspended for 18 months, and 50 hours of unpaid community service.
The following morning, Mr Attard was found by his son, Chris Attard, unresponsive and visibly injured. He was rushed to hospital but never regained consciousness and died ten days later. While the exact cause of death wasn’t legally linked to the abuse, his family believes the trauma played a significant role in his decline.
Speaking outside the courtroom, Chris Attard expressed deep frustration:
“If those cameras had not been there, that person could still be out there treating elderly people like this. The sentence is an insult. What kind of deterrent is that?”
During the hearing, the court was shown footage of Olagunju forcibly handling Mr Attard, dragging him by his arms and collar, and stripping him in full view of the street. She ignored professional advice not to move him, spilled hot coffee on him, and poured marmalade into his drink—despite his diabetic condition.
Judge Charlotte Welsh criticised the decision to assign such a vulnerable patient to an inexperienced caregiver.
“Your actions are evidence of your failure to treat Mr Attard as a person deserving of dignity and respect,” she said. “The family has lost a father, grandfather, and great-grandfather, and their final memories of him are now tainted.”
Olagunju wept as her defence lawyer, Mr Tijani, told the court she was ashamed of her actions and deeply remorseful.
“She accepts full responsibility and is very sorry,” he said, noting that she had no prior convictions and had only recently arrived in the UK.
Chris Attard, emotional during his victim impact statement, addressed Olagunju directly:
“You can never take back the memories you left my father with at the end of his life. Imagine it was me on that CCTV assaulting your loved one, what sentence would you expect the court to give me?”
He also blasted the care agency, Unique Personnel UK, accusing them of negligence.
“They should have been in the dock alongside her. This is a care company sending people into the homes of the elderly without proper checks or training,” he said.
The case has reignited conversations in the UK about regulatory oversight in the private care sector and the protection of vulnerable adults.
