Eleven former Winterbourne View care workers are sentenced

Care workers found guilty of the mistreatment and abuse of adults with learning disabilities, at Bristol’s Winterbourne View care home, have been sentenced today at Bristol Crown Court, having pleaded guilty to a total of thirty-eight charges.

The Court’s verdict includes six jail sentences and five suspended sentences, with a two-year jail term for Wayne Rogers, 32, considered to be the ringleader of the abuse that occurred. Rogers admitted to nine counts of ill-treatment, after a Panorama investigator went undercover at the facility and filmed numerous examples of neglect and abuse.

Speaking after the verdict, Beverley Dawkins of learning disability charity Mencap - acting as a spokesperson for the families of former Winterbourne View residents and victims - said:

“In the 21st century, places like Winterbourne View should not exist; they should be closed and more local services developed. Viewing the footage shown in court this week has been distressing and extremely harrowing for families. The guilty parties were only charged for offences shown on the Panorama programme and it would be naive to believe that this monstrous behaviour had not been continuing for a very long time.”

The statement also expressed gratitude to the BBC Panorama team who uncovered the abuse, as well as praising how police at Avon and Somerset Constabulary handled the case.

Of the other individuals sentenced, Alison Dove, 25, and Graham Doyle, 26, have both been jailed for 20 months, Holly Draper, 24, for 12 months, and Kelvin Fore, 33, and Sookalingum Appoo, 59, both for six months. The five individuals with suspended sentences are Danny Brake, 27, Jason Gardiner, 43, Michael Ezenagu, 29, Charlotte Cotterell, 22, and Neil Ferguson, 28.