A SENIOR carer on trial for mistreating residents at a specialist dementia home in Salisbury has been found guilty.

The jury found Agneskia Sztokmanska guilty of five charges of ill-treating persons, who lack capacity, and not guilty of two charges.

The jury took just over three hours to decide, returning unanimous verdicts on the six counts just after 2pm this afternoon.

Sztokmanska, who moved to the UK from Poland in 2006, began working at the home - Milford Manor care home in Milford Manor Gardens - in 2010, becoming a senior carer in 2012.

She has been found guilty of threatening to throw, and throwing, shoes at one resident, pulling the hair of another resident, punching a resident in the back who was "in the way" and pulling a resident along the floor by the front of his pyjamas and down some steps.

She was found not guilty of causing a resident to hit his head on a wall by turning a resident onto his side - the allegation which prompted the investigation.

She was also found not guilty of force-feeding medication in food to a resident in a manner which caused the resident distress.

Sztokmanska of Nursery Road, Salisbury, denied all the charges and will be sentenced at Swindon Crown Court on Friday, October 24.

Speaking to the jury, Recorder Peter Blair QC thanked them, saying: "It was not an easy case and a sad one in many respects.

"The court regards cases like these really quite seriously because of the degree of trust which is placed on those in the caring profession, looking after people who are vulnerable and in a position where they themselves can't complain."

In a statement released after the verdict, Matthew Airey, the managing director of Wessex Care, the company which runs Milford Manor, said it had a zero tolerance policy towards any type or level of abusive behaviour towards its residents.

He said: "That is why, within about two hours of having been made aware of a possible incident of abuse in March 2013 and having already suspended the member of staff concerned, we reported the matter officially to the Wiltshire Safeguarding and Mental Capacity Act Team.

"All the investigating agencies involved with this case, including Wiltshire Social Services and Wiltshire Police, made it clear to us that they are satisfied with the way in which we have handled the matter, that their concerns relate to the actions of just one individual, and that they did not regard those issues as the sign of a wider problem within the care home."

Mr Airey also praised the members of staff who reported the abuse and gave evidence in court.

He added: "Our team of care staff at Milford Manor strive constantly to deliver a high quality service and to meet all the requisite standards. I am confident that they will continue to do that."