Harrowing moment cold-hearted carer is caught striking a naked patient, 32, who had Down’s Syndrome in the face hours before he died from a cardiac arrest
- WARNING UPSETTING CONTENT
- Cowardly Ayan was caught on camera looking around before striking Ben King
This is the moment a cold-hearted carer struck a vulnerable patient in the face hours before the man died from a cardiac arrest.
Dami Tobi Ayan ‘man-handled’ Ben King by pushing him to the ground and dragging him by the arms before slapping him with an open hand.
Cowardly Ayan, 62, was then caught on camera looking around and checking no one was there before hitting his victim again with the back of his hand.
His frustration was directed towards a defenceless patient who had Down’s Syndrome and severe learning difficulties.
Mr King, 32, who was naked at the time, was found unresponsive an hour later at Cawston Park private hospital, in a village near Norwich, Norfolk, and pronounced dead later the same day.
Cowardly Ayan, 62, was then caught on camera looking around and checking no one was there before hitting his victim
The assault and the fatal cardiac arrest were not formally linked but Ayan was caught after a coroner asked police to check any CCTV footage.
He was jailed for nine months on Wednesday after admitting ill treatment or wilful neglect of a person without mental capacity at an earlier hearing.
Passing sentence at Norwich Crown Court, Judge Andrew Shaw said the defendant had displayed a ‘total absence of empathy and dignity’ in the treatment of his ward, who was ‘completely dependent on his carers for everything’.
He added: ‘The message must go out to those that are supposed to care for the most vulnerable in our society that if you ill-treat them, the court will impose punishment.’
Mr King’s mother, Gina Egmore, 55, described her son as ‘my life’ and revealed she remained haunted that he had ‘all his dignity taken from him’.
She was left ‘deeply affected’ by the fact the July 2020 incident left her son so scared ‘he soiled himself’.
‘I feel broken this could happen in a so-called hospital by a carer,’ she said.
The hospital closed in May 2021 after ‘consistent failures to meet standards’, according to a damning report by the Norfolk Safeguarding Adults Board.
‘Indifferent and harmful hospital practices’ included ‘excessive use of restraint and seclusion by unqualified staff’ and a ‘high tolerance of inactivity’. Two other patients died there after shoddy treatment.
Ben King, 32, was found unresponsive an hour after the incident at Cawston Park private hospital, near Norwich, Norfolk, and pronounced dead later the same day
Ben King’s mother described her son as ‘my life’ and revealed she remained haunted that he had ‘all his dignity taken from him’
Simon Connolly, prosecuting, said Mr King was admitted to the hospital in 2018 after his mother became unable to care for his complex needs. He had been diagnosed with a life-threatening condition.
Mr King, who was ‘completely dependent on his carers for going to the toilet and eating due to a risk of choking, ballooned from 13 stone to 19 stone during his stay.
Describing the assault on the day of his death, Mr Connolly said: ‘It begins with him pushing Ben forwards in the seat.’
Ayan then pulled the victim ‘forward by his arms’ before ‘going out of sight of the camera’ and then returning.
With Mr King now on the floor, the burly carer then ‘raises his right arm’ and hits him open-handed.
He then ‘looked back’ towards the camera as if aware he ‘must have been seen’, before delivering a second blow.
Witnesses told police during the investigation that Ayan, of Norwich, often intimidated and shouted abuse at Mr King, calling him a ‘baby’ or saying he was ‘disgusting’.
Andrew Oliver, defending, said his client – who has been barred as a carer – was ‘sorry he let him down’.
Passing sentence at Norwich Crown Court (pictured), Judge Andrew Shaw said the defendant had displayed a ‘total absence of empathy and dignity’ in the treatment of his ward
Detective Inspector Sam Pontin said outside court: ‘Ayan was in a position of trust and was meant to care for Ben, who was extremely vulnerable and had limited means of protecting himself.
‘This trust was abused and it’s important Ayan faces justice for this.’
Cawston Park Hospital was run by Jeesal Akman Care Corporation, which pledged never to run hospitals again after the independent report in 2021. It apologised at the time for Mr King’s death, as well as those of Joanna Bailey, 36, and Nicholas Briant, 33.
Staff failed to start CPR after finding Miss Bailey unconscious in 2018 at the £1,000-a-week hospital. She had learning difficulties, epilepsy and sleep apnoea.
Her father Keith said: ‘They take the money. They get paid big bucks and don’t provide anything.’
Mr Briant, who had learning difficulties, also died in 2018 after swallowing a piece of a plastic cup.
The report added ‘not a great deal has changed’ since the abuse scandal at Winterbourne View private hospital near Bristol, which was exposed in an undercover operation by the BBC’s Panorama in 2011.
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