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Facing jail: Rita Page (left) and Lynette Crook (right) were secretly filmed smacking the victim's legs.
  • Worried family hid secret surveillance cameras around the man's room
  • Rita Page and Lynette Crook were filmed in Bury, Greater Manchester
  • Crook jabbed patient in torso and head with a pen whilst he was asleep
  • Page slapped victim during struggle when she put pillow between legs
  • Relatives launch petition for cameras in care homes for vulnerable people
  • Page pleads guilty to two abuse charges and Crook pleads guilty to three
Two carers secretly filmed slapping, jabbing and humiliating a brain-damaged patient as he lay groaning in bed have been warned they face jail.

Shocking footage shows Rita Page, 68, and Lynette Crook, 33, smacking the young victim's legs and swearing at him as they changed his bedding at a £3,000-a-week Priory care home.

On the recording, made after relatives became concerned about his treatment at the private hospital, Page can be heard insulting the helpless patient as a 'b*****d' and a 'dirty scummy boy'.

She also tells her colleague 'there's this very fine line between abuse and neglect'.

Crook is captured telling the patient: 'I don't do sick, so stop it, scummy lad.'

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Concerns: The footage was filmed between August 28 and September 19 in 2012 by the patient's family who were worried about the victim's treatment at the privately-run hospital.
The women were arrested after relatives handed the recordings to police and the pair have now been warned they face jail after admitting slapping the man and jabbing him with a pen.

His family called for vulnerable patients' care to be routinely videoed, saying responsible carers would have nothing to hide.
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Investigation: Healthcare assistants Rita Page and Lynette Crook were suspended from their duties and were arrested after the footage was handed over to police.
The victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, suffered brain damage in an accident when he was younger. He was looked after at the Priory Highbank specialist unit for neurological disorders in Bury, Greater Manchester, part of the Priory Group.

However, his family feared staff had not investigated their concerns about his treatment and hid surveillance cameras around the man's room.
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Abuse: The victim, who had suffered brain damage following an accident when he was a youngster, cannot be named for legal reasons.
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Clip: The film emerged as Crook and Page were warned they faced jail after they pleaded guilty to charges of ill treatment of the patient on the first day of their trial at Bolton Crown Court.
Among footage recorded in August and September 2012, Page is heard saying: 'You won't beat us, b*****d. There's this very fine line between abuse and neglect. Don't you dare be sick on me boy, don't you dare - you dirty scummy boy.'

Crook is heard saying: 'Better not think about being sick on me, lad. I don't do sick, so stop it, scummy lad.'
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Secret footage: Both were bailed pending a sentencing hearing in May, but a judge warned them 'immediate custody was likely'.
Both women were suspended and this week pleaded guilty to charges of ill-treatment of the patient on the first day of their trial at Bolton Crown Court.

Page, from Bury, admitted two charges relating to her use of abusive language and slapping the patient during a struggle when she put a pillow between his legs. Crook, of Ramsbottom, Lancashire, pleaded guilty to three charges relating to jabbing him in the torso and head with a pen while he slept, using abusive language and slapping his leg as she took his blood pressure.

Seven other charges relating to the pair will lie on file. Both women were bailed to await sentencing in May but Judge Timothy Clayson warned them 'immediate custody' was likely.
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Astonishing abuse: The two carers were filmed slapping, jabbing and humiliating a brain-damaged patient.
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Watching: Believing their concerns had not been addressed by senior staff, the family hid secret surveillance cameras around the man's room at The Priory Highbank Centre specialist hospital.
The uncle of the victim, who has since been moved to a different home, said: 'All institutions must be brought to justice and we wanted to make sure these two women were brought to account for what they did.'

He said the family had been 'very concerned' and made several complaints before resorting to hiding cameras in the room.

The uncle added: 'We want a petition for cameras in care homes for vulnerable people like him. If you have nothing to be ashamed of then it won't be an intrusion.'

Secret filming by the BBC's Panorama in 2011 revealed shocking abuse of residents in Winterbourne View, a care home near Bristol for those with learning disabilities which was later closed down. While watchdogs raised the possibility of extending the use of hidden cameras for investigations, any move towards wholesale secret filming is likely to breach privacy rules.
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Caught on camera: Page (left) pleaded guilty to two charges relating to use of abusive language and slapping the patient's leg during a struggle when she put a pillow between his leg.
A Care Quality Commission inspection last month found the Priory home met required standards. Malcolm Bower-Brown, of the CQC, said it was a 'shocking case' and that the Commission 'will not hesitate to take any regulatory action necessary'.

A Priory spokesman said the abuse was an 'isolated incident', adding: 'Everyone at the company deeply regrets the unacceptable actions of these two members of staff, both of whom had over ten years' service ... The company will not tolerate behaviour of this nature and both healthcare assistants have been dismissed for gross misconduct.'