A SENIOR carer inappropriately touched a frail woman in her 80s during a home visit, a court has heard.

Julie Thatcher denies ill-treating pensioner Hazel Gosney at her home in July 2017 whilst she was working for Bloomsbury Care Agency.

Thatcher, who is qualified to look after vulnerable adults and children, is alleged to have touched Mrs Gosney’s bottom without permission whilst trying to make her go to the toilet.

Karl Volts, prosecuting, said the late Mrs Gosney relied entirely on the support of a team of carers, who visited her home in Rose Avenue, Stanway, four times a day.

He said: “Hazel Gosney was elderly and frail and she was not mobile.

“She was completely dependent on the community support workers to lift her in a hoist.

“Her husband, Leslie, was able to walk with the use of a frame but not unsupported.”

In the spring and summer of 2017, the couple were regularly visited by carers Laura Owers and Jeffrey Brown, who worked for Dial A Carer.

Mr Volts said: “On July 11, 2017, Jeffrey Brown and Laura Owers attended the address at around 7pm.

“Hazel told them she was in pain and had not defecated for a few days.

“She was hoisted on to the commode where she attempted to go. It was about this time Julie Thatcher arrived.”

Thatcher, of Radvald Chase, Stanway, knew the couple as she had been acting as a carer for Mr Gosney.

Mr Volts told Chelmsford Crown Court yesterday “without much preamble and without any element of consent” Thatcher took hold of Mrs Gosney and touched her bottom inappropriately.

He added: “She did not ask, she just went right ahead and did it. Hazel screamed and started crying.

“At this point she said it was because she was blocked and it was to help her constipation.

“Hazel was distressed because it came, we say, without any warning. Thatcher’s cavalier attitude was not right.”

Ms Owers and Mr Brown reported the incident to senior management.

Thatcher, 59, was dismissed from her role at Bloomsbury Care and was voluntarily interviewed by police in January 2018.

The trial continues.