Westlands care home workers: Jury retires in 'sleeping' trial

The jury has retired in the trial of two Buckinghamshire care home workers accused of sleeping on the night shift.

The trial heard that Titilayo Ajala, 56, and Henretta Offae, 41, were found asleep at the Westlands home, Olney.

Each deny 19 charges of ill-treatment or neglect and said they were not asleep.

The jury at Amersham Crown Court retired to consider its verdict and is due to resume its deliberations on Tuesday.

Ms Ajala, of Penryn Avenue, Fishermead, Milton Keynes, and Ms Offae, of St Chad's Road, Derby, said they had been resting their eyes.

The court heard each charge related to one resident at the home, which specialises in dementia patients.

The two workers were found asleep in armchairs in front of the television in the early hours of 18 August 2011 by two managers, the jury was told.

Team manager Barbara May said personal alarms had been disconnected in "quite a few" of the residents' rooms.

Both defendants denied putting residents in double incontinence pads to allow them to rest longer. They also denied taking the plugs out of alarms designed to detect falls and said they had not slept on duty.