Care home sex attack victim was 'easy prey for monster', husband says

An elderly woman with dementia was "easy prey" for a rapist placed in the same care home, her husband has said.

Robert Carpenter was caught sexually abusing the woman in June 2018 at the HICA-owned Raleigh Court in Cambridge Street, Hull.

Former manager Katie Daysley was found guilty on Thursday of failing to protect her, following a trial at Beverley Magistrates' Court.

HICA admitted a similar offence under the Health and Social Care Act 2008.

Carpenter, then 65, was free to roam the home even when his rape conviction from 40 years earlier came to light, the four-day trial heard.

Speaking after the trial, the victim's husband, who has since lost his wife to unrelated causes, said: "I made the hardest decision of my life to put my one true love into a care home, and for this to have happened is absolutely heart-breaking."

He said he felt "utter and total disgust and anger" that Carpenter was able to target his "poor wife" and mix freely with some of society's most vulnerable.

"She was left as easy prey for a monster who should never have been allowed anywhere near her," he said.

Carpenter was jailed in 2019 for seven-and-a-half years for the attack.

The pensioner said he holds Hull City Council, which placed Carpenter in the home in January 2018, as well as those who allowed him to remain there when his convictions came to light three months later, responsible.

The trial heard how Carpenter arrived at the home in January 2018 - six months before the attack.

On his arrival, social services had failed to inform Daysley of the rape conviction.

But Jemima Stephenson, prosecuting for the Care Quality Commission, which brought the case against Daysley and HICA, said Daysley should have established a "full and informative picture" of Carpenter's background prior to admitting him on an "emergency placement".

Daysley claimed she had sought advice from Heather Joy, then HICA's regional director and safeguarding lead, when Carpenter was admitted and again in April 2018 on being informed of his rape conviction.

Ms Joy said these calls did not happen.

Daysley, 41, of Kirk Ella, was convicted of failing to discharge a duty resulting in avoidable harm to a service user from abuse and improper treatment.

HICA pleaded guilty on the opening day of the trial to failing to discharge a duty resulting in a service user being exposed to a significant risk of avoidable harm.

Carpenter is understood to have died last August.

Lauren Dale, of Hudgell Solicitors, which represents the victim's family, said: "Residents were left at the mercy of a convicted sex attacker for months. It was an appalling and inexcusable situation."

In a statement, Hull City Council expressed its "most sincere sympathies" to the victim's family.

It said: "We worked with the police at every stage of their investigation and we also carried out our own review, with the findings shared across all the agencies involved.

"We are confident that all agencies concerned have learned the lessons from this incident, and have taken action to safeguard against an incident of this nature taking place in the future."

District Judge Dan Curtis adjourned sentencing until 15 July.

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