A CARE assistant has had her convictions for assaulting and mistreating a patient in a care home in Co Tyrone set aside after her case was thrown out on appeal.
Catrina Tummons, from Lisnaragh Road in Donemana, had been convicted of assaulting and ill-treating 86-year-old Seamus Gormley, a patient at Drumragh Care Home in Omagh.
Ms Tummons received a conditional discharge in 2016 after it was alleged that she had used a belt to restrain Mr Gormley, a dementia sufferer, in a chair the previous year.
At an appeal hearing yesterday the Public Prosecution Service reviewed evidence from its chief witness and found it to be no longer reliable, with a judge ruling that the convictions be set aside.
Drumragh Care Home, owned by Four Seasons Healthcare, has since closed.
