Whorlton Hall: Panorama 'sexed up' carer abuse report

Whorlton Hall in County Durham has closed since the 2019 Panorama documentary

Documentary makers "sexed up" claims that staff at a secure hospital were ill-treating patients, a court heard.

Nine former staff at Whorlton Hall, near Barnard Castle, County Durham, deny 27 offences arising from an undercover BBC Panorama film in 2019.

Prosecutors said defendants showed "contempt" for and mocked patients.

In their closing arguments, lawyers for some of the defendants said the accused were "doing their best" in "challenging circumstances".

Undercover reporter Olivia Davies spent 38 days posing as a carer at Whorlton Hall, a 17-bedroom secure unit for people with complex needs.

Prosecutors said clips shown to the jury showed the various defendants mocking, taunting and threatening patients.

'Simply being firm'

Matthew Banner, a former newspaper delivery man turned carer, faces six charges including that he "threatened" a woman who preferred to have female carers, saying that male ones would come to her room if she did not calm down.

The court heard the woman, who had autism, would scream for lengthy periods as staff tried to calm her down.

Stephen Constantine, Mr Banner's lawyer, told jurors his client did say during a screaming episode that more male carers would come to the woman's room but he was "simply being firm".

Mr Constantine added: "He was telling her of the consequences if she didn't return to the acceptable level.

"You're dealing with a man who is doing his best in particularly challenging circumstances," Mr Constantine said.

He said during Ms Davies' time at the hospital, there were 50 incidents of "minor violence, aggressive threats and minor self harm" involving the woman and jurors would have to decide if the "snippets of short clips" selected by Panorama did "really reflect the truth of what was going on there".

'Thought crime'

Jonathan Walker, representing Sara Banner who faces three charges, referred to the "thought police" in George Orwell's novel 1984.

He said the author would have shown a "wry smile" at the discussions between Ms Davies and Panorama producers as they "sexed up this dossier" and exercised "moral authority" while "scrutinising hour after hour [of footage] to criminalise the mundane and totally meaningless chat between these bored defendants".

Mr Walker said the recordings of conversations in which staff used swear words and inappropriate language was "careless and meaningless chat amongst bored colleagues".

He said his client was "forthright" and "confident" and while she was "probably not built for the diplomatic service" she was "really good" at her job at Whorlton Hall.

'Difficult situation'

Josh Normanton, representing nurse Karen McGhee, said she was "doing her level best at coping with tough situations Whorlton Hall would throw" at her and her prosecution was a "mistake".

He said the only criticism she could face was that she was inexperienced in a "heavy duty" job and was doing the work managers should have been doing.

Ms McGhee is accused of "threatening" a female patient with male carers and also ordering items be removed from a male patient's room as a "punishment" while he was being restrained by staff during an outburst of violent behaviour.

In one clip while the woman was screaming, Ms McGhee could be heard joking that the patient was "possessed".

Mr Normanton said, at worst, the comment was a "professional lapse" made by a nurse who was "very human", adding: "Such mistakes show nothing of how she cared for patients and her attitudes towards them."

'Very little experience'

Christopher Knox, representing Ryan Fuller who faces 10 charges, said the "unfortunate people" being cared for at Whorlton Hall had been sectioned and were "very disabled and mentally disorderly" through "no fault of their own", adding some were "frankly dangerous".

He said Mr Fuller, who was 20 when he started working as a carer at Whorlton Hall in 2016, was a "young man who went to work there with very little experience and training".

He said Mr Fuller was not cruel or abusive but rather "endeavoured to try to provide some sort of life for those people".

Mr Knox said the BBC went to Whorlton Hall "with the clear idea there was some sort of abuse they were going to uncover" such as "physical abuse" similar to that discovered at Winterbourne View near Bristol but "frankly that was not the case".

He said Mr Fuller featured so much in the undercover footage as he was Ms Davies' mentor but none of his activity involved "physical abuse, threats of violence or unpleasantness".

'Silly and puerile'

Robin Patton, representing Niall Mellor, said the private firm running Whorlton Hall was paid a lot of money to look after the patients.

One man, for example, required constant supervision by four people costing £20,000 a week but Mr Patton said owners went "right to the bottom in terms of [employing] the least qualified people to look after these patients to maximise their profits".

He also suggested the BBC investigation was triggered by two former "disgruntled" employees turned whistle-blowers who had an "axe to grind" after they were dismissed.

The BBC had declined to say what triggered their undercover probe, the court heard.

Mr Patton said the investigation found staff swore behind patients' backs and said "silly, puerile things" but any violence was from the patients towards staff and "not once" did staff respond physically, such as by punching or kicking.

Mr Patton said some of what Mr Mellor said was "stupid" and his client "should be" and "obviously was embarrassed" by it but the "world is going mad" if he were to be criminalised because of it.

He said at worst it should have resulted in managers giving a warning or suggesting he was not suited to the job, not the "madness" of prosecution.

The nine accused face the following number of charges of ill treatment of a person in care:

• John Sanderson, 25, of Cambridge Avenue, Willington - two

• Darren Lawton, 47, of Miners Crescent, Darlington - two

• Niall Mellor, 26, of Lingmell Dene, Coundon, Bishop Auckland - two

• Sara Banner, 33, of Faulkner Road, Newton Aycliffe - three

• Matthew Banner, 43, of the same address - six

• Ryan Fuller, 27, of Deerbolt Bank, Barnard Castle - 10

• Sabah Mahmood, 27, of Woodland Crescent, Kelloe - one

• Peter Bennett, 53, of Redworth Road, Billingham - three

• Karen McGhee, 54, of Wildair Close, Darlington - two

The trial continues.