AGXStarseed
Well-Known Member
(Not written by me)
A carer of an autistic man who drowned in a reservoir after she lost sight of him while she called and sent text messages to two men has been jailed.
Nikki Deaney, 29, of Sneinton Dale, was locked up for four months after admitting a breach of the Health and Safety at Work Act at Nottingham Crown Court in January.
Nikki Deaney
Today the court heard Majid Akhtar died unnecessarily when he drowned in shallow water at King's Mill Reservoir, near Mansfield, on September 10, 2012.
A day care assistant at Springwood Day Centre, Mapperley, Deaney had previously been warned twice by colleagues about using her phone at work - a practice banned except for emergencies. However, her defence team said one of those "warnings" was in relation to her answering the phone about a work matter.
Sentencing Deaney, a mother-of-one, Judge Gregory Dickinson QC said the reason she lost sight of Majid, or was unaware he was at the water's edge, was because she was concentrating on her phone, not him.
Majid Akhtar
She sent 17 text messages on her lunch break between 12.08pm and 1.05pm - which was not flagged up during the court hearing as being against work rules.
But at 1.08pm she had topped up the credit on her phone and two minutes later, about the time she began walking with Majid around the reservoir, she phoned her boyfriend for ten minutes. She then sent a text to a man she met online, received a response, then put in another call to her boyfriend. And she sent another text to the other man (she previously met online) and he phoned her back.
Said the judge: "Sometime during that period you were not concentrating on Majid. He wandered away from you, disappearing from your view. Having realised you had lost sight of him, realising that tragedy happened, you made a 999 call at 1.42pm."
Deaney, who was employed as a care assistant for Nottingham City Council, admitted failing to take reasonable care for the health and safety of other persons, including Majid, who may have been affected by "her acts or omissions at work" by:
The judge said Deaney "knew right away this was a serious failing on her part" and that was why she pretended he was only out of her sight for a moment.
"That's why you lied in interview in the way you did; pretending you didn't use your phone at all".
Deaney had suggested something else, such as her keys in her bag, made or received the calls and text messages.
"This is a terrible tragedy for everyone caught up in this case, including you, because you intended no harm to Majid," added the judge.
He said 28-year-old Majid, who also had autism and severe learning difficulties, had gone to the water's edge or just into the water.
"Either he suffered an epileptic fit and fell into the water or, for some other reason, fell and suffered a seizure and hit the water. He was still breathing when his head went into the shallow waters because he inhaled the water when he drowned".
The judge said had Deaney been with him first of all he would not have gone into the water at all. If he had suffered a seizure on dry land, she would have been there to help him.
He decided to jail her "because of the persistence of the use of her mobile phone" over that half-an-hour.
Her defence barrister, Stephen Grattage, spent this morning addressing the judge about his client, who was of previous good character and a single mum.
He told the court she said she "can't express how sorry I am for what has happened" and "it will stay with me for the rest of my life and I will not forgive myself".
Source: Carer jailed after autistic man drowned in a reservoir
A carer of an autistic man who drowned in a reservoir after she lost sight of him while she called and sent text messages to two men has been jailed.
Nikki Deaney, 29, of Sneinton Dale, was locked up for four months after admitting a breach of the Health and Safety at Work Act at Nottingham Crown Court in January.
Nikki Deaney
Today the court heard Majid Akhtar died unnecessarily when he drowned in shallow water at King's Mill Reservoir, near Mansfield, on September 10, 2012.
A day care assistant at Springwood Day Centre, Mapperley, Deaney had previously been warned twice by colleagues about using her phone at work - a practice banned except for emergencies. However, her defence team said one of those "warnings" was in relation to her answering the phone about a work matter.
Sentencing Deaney, a mother-of-one, Judge Gregory Dickinson QC said the reason she lost sight of Majid, or was unaware he was at the water's edge, was because she was concentrating on her phone, not him.
Majid Akhtar
She sent 17 text messages on her lunch break between 12.08pm and 1.05pm - which was not flagged up during the court hearing as being against work rules.
But at 1.08pm she had topped up the credit on her phone and two minutes later, about the time she began walking with Majid around the reservoir, she phoned her boyfriend for ten minutes. She then sent a text to a man she met online, received a response, then put in another call to her boyfriend. And she sent another text to the other man (she previously met online) and he phoned her back.
Said the judge: "Sometime during that period you were not concentrating on Majid. He wandered away from you, disappearing from your view. Having realised you had lost sight of him, realising that tragedy happened, you made a 999 call at 1.42pm."
Deaney, who was employed as a care assistant for Nottingham City Council, admitted failing to take reasonable care for the health and safety of other persons, including Majid, who may have been affected by "her acts or omissions at work" by:
- Failing to fulfil her duty of care for Majid when employed as a care assistant
- And using her mobile phone at the time it was prohibited to do so because she was caring for Majid
- Failing to take care of and supervise Majid whilst he was under her direct control
- And allowing Majid to become separated from her so that she lost sight of him and did not know his whereabouts
- Allowing Majid to approach the water at King's Mill Reservoir unescorted and unsupervised
- Failing to provide Majid with one-to-one care
The judge said Deaney "knew right away this was a serious failing on her part" and that was why she pretended he was only out of her sight for a moment.
"That's why you lied in interview in the way you did; pretending you didn't use your phone at all".
Deaney had suggested something else, such as her keys in her bag, made or received the calls and text messages.
"This is a terrible tragedy for everyone caught up in this case, including you, because you intended no harm to Majid," added the judge.
He said 28-year-old Majid, who also had autism and severe learning difficulties, had gone to the water's edge or just into the water.
"Either he suffered an epileptic fit and fell into the water or, for some other reason, fell and suffered a seizure and hit the water. He was still breathing when his head went into the shallow waters because he inhaled the water when he drowned".
The judge said had Deaney been with him first of all he would not have gone into the water at all. If he had suffered a seizure on dry land, she would have been there to help him.
He decided to jail her "because of the persistence of the use of her mobile phone" over that half-an-hour.
Her defence barrister, Stephen Grattage, spent this morning addressing the judge about his client, who was of previous good character and a single mum.
He told the court she said she "can't express how sorry I am for what has happened" and "it will stay with me for the rest of my life and I will not forgive myself".
Source: Carer jailed after autistic man drowned in a reservoir
