A severely disabled man, who was verbally abused by his carer, was shocked to hear she had been fined just £100.
Cerebral palsy sufferer Stuart Shanks, who was called a “muppet” and “f****** loon tune” by care assistant Helen McQuade, said after hearing the sentence: “It’s a disgrace. I’ve been made a mockery of.”
His dad Michael Shanks said: “A £100 fine is an absolute joke. I can’t believe that’s all she’s got.
“My son’s been worked up about this court appearance for the last six months and has hardly been able to get any sleep.
“It’s been a huge ordeal for us, and a fine like that doesn’t send out the right message about how carers should behave.
“The only good thing is that it should stop her working as a carer for anyone else.”
McQuade was captured on audio tape by the anxious father, who said what he heard when he played it back was “absolutely disgusting”.
A court previously heard the secretly-taped recording of McQuade telling the man “shut up ya f****** loon tune” and then calling him a “muppet”.
The victim, wheelchair-bound 23-year-old Stuart Shanks, was born with cerebral palsy, cannot walk or stand up and has severely impaired sight.
He told a trial at Dunfermline Sheriff Court last month that after McQuade’s comments he was “very upset”.
He added: “It was very offensive. You don’t expect that from someone who comes in to care for you.”
A charge that McQuade, 45, of Craigmead Terrace, Cardenden, had assaulted Mr Shanks by striking him on the face with her hand at his home in Woodend Road, Cardenden on November 14 was found not proven by Sheriff Mark Thorley.
However, she was found guilty of behaving in a threatening or abusive manner on the same day by shouting, swearing, acting in an aggressive manner and uttering abusive remarks.
In court yesterday, McQuade’s solicitor Eamon Keane called for his client to be given an absolute discharge so that she could continue working as a carer.
He said his client had no previous convictions and had worked for more than seven years as a carer.
He added that “swearing was commonplace” in the day-to-day relationship between his client and Mr Shanks.
Mr Keane said a conviction would “without doubt end her career” as a carer.
Sheriff Mark Thorley rejected the call for an absolute discharge and fined McQuade £100.
The court previously heard that McQuade had been caring for Mr Shanks four days a week for around four years when the incidents occurred.
Stuart’s father told the court that he had left a tape recorder switched on when he went out to his work as a bus driver.
The court heard parts of the tape recorded when his mother had also gone out to work, leaving him in the house with McQuade.
McQuade could be heard complaining about having to work and was shouting, singing and swearing.
At another time there is a slapping sound, McQuade is heard shouting “whack” and Mr Shanks claimed in court she had hit him on the face.
McQuade told the court she had been hitting him on the backside, which she claimed she did if he was suffering from numbness.