Swansea: Carer dragged woman by hair and made sex threats, court told

Douglas Stephens (centre) is among three defendants that deny ill treatment or wilful neglect

A carer dragged a vulnerable woman by her hair and made sex threats to others, Swansea Crown Court has heard.

Douglas Stephens, 40, from Cefneithin, Carmarthenshire, denies the ill treatment or wilful neglect of three women at a home in Swansea.

Anthony John Thomas, 64, of Sketty, Swansea, denies the same charges.

Tony Rowlands, 53, from Neath, denies the same charge at another home operated by the same company.

Jim Davis opened the case for the prosecution at Swansea Crown Court by describing the seven alleged offences against vulnerable adults.

The alleged offences occurred at two homes run by the same company.

Mr Davis told the jury the four alleged victims in the case "lacked the mental capacity to enable them to make decisions for themselves".

He told the court the four individuals would not be able to give evidence for that reason.

Sexual threats

The prosecution alleges that Douglas Stephens assaulted one vulnerable resident by grabbing her by the hair, pulling her off a settee, before kneeling with one knee on her stomach.

Mr Davis said it was alleged that Mr Stephens then used the resident's hair to "bang her head on the floor a number of times", telling her to learn not to hit staff.

In two other charges, Mr Stephens is alleged to have made sexual comments towards two separate female residents, including threatening to perform sexual acts on them.

He is also accused of using a racist slur towards another resident.

A witness alleges Anthony John Thomas (right) dragged a woman to her bedroom by her hair

Anthony John Thomas is alleged to have taken hold of a resident "around the neck from behind" and "pinned" him to the floor, Mr Davis told the jury.

In the second charge, relating to another resident, a witness alleges he "took hold of her by the hair and dragged her towards the bedroom", said Mr Davis.

Tony Rowlands faces one charge for an incident alleged to have taken place at a sister home of the company.

The court heard that when a vulnerable adult started headbutting the window, a witness alleges Mr Rowlands said: "Carry on if you want to".

Tony Rowlands told police "anything he had done had been in self-defence", the court heard

The resident then "went towards" Mr Rowlands "as if to scram or bite him" and was pushed away.

Another witness alleges Mr Rowlands then pushed her forcefully down on a sofa.

It is alleged that when the resident then walked toward Mr Rowlands with her hands raised, he "held her by the throat briefly, and then slapped her face, causing her to scream," Mr Davis told the jury.

The court heard all three defendants denied each of the allegations in police interviews.

Douglas Stephens said what he was accused of simply did not happen.

Anthony Thomas said the allegations were "untrue and a fabrication".

Tony Rowlands said that while he acknowledged the resident could be "challenging", he denied slapping her, and said "anything he had done had been in self-defence".

The trial continues.