Abusive carer drew whiskers on disabled woman with mental age of four's face and offered her dog biscuits

A carer 'recklessly' drove with a woman who had the mental age of four on her knee before drawing whiskers and offering her dog biscuits, a court heard. Debra Ralph, 54, of Bolton, was looking after the woman at Agricola House in Tottington, Bury, which offers one-to-one care for adults with severe brain injuries.

The two incidents happened on July 10 last year during one shift. Ralph was struck off and arrested within days after what the judge, Tina Landale, described as "wilful abuse".

"It's hard to think of a more vulnerable victim than a person in her position," the judge said. On the day in question Ralph first had the woman on her knee in a car which she drove backwards and forwards in the car park before drawing whiskers on her cheeks and making the tip of her nose black with a pen and offering her dog biscuits to the shock of her colleagues.

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Prosecuting, Sophie Kenny, told the court that colleagues immediately told her this kind of behaviour constituted abuse. Three days later she was arrested by police for the ill treatment of the woman as a care worker and pleaded guilty to the offence in court.

Ms Kenny said Ralph was in a "position of responsibility" for this particularly vulnerable person. The woman, who was said to have a mental age of four, required one-to-one care and by doing this she "breached her position of trust as a carer in a caring role". Other members of staff raised "immediate concern" over this behaviour, according to Ms Kenny, as it was "unmistakably inappropriate in nature".

Defending Ralph, Rachel Shenton, told the court her behaviour was not "malicious" and she "didn't want to harm anyone. She conceded that it was