A care worker sobbed in the dock as she was found guilty of slapping a man with dementia at Whitefarm Lodge Care Home in Whitton.

Afua Donkor, 48, hit resident Patrick Austin around the face several times and shook him by his jumper after he spilt a cup of tea on the floor.

The sickening incident occurred in the dining room at the care home on February 5.

Donkor, of Danesbury Road in Feltham, accused Mr Austin, who has since died, of punching her in the jaw.

Giving evidence at Wimbledon Magistrates’ Court on Monday, witness Lynne Collyer said she watched "in shock" as Donkor slapped Mr Austin.

She said: "I saw Afua hit Patrick, she slapped him in the face and shook him, I remember he had quite a bright green jumper on, and I remember her shaking the jumper.

"It was with a flat hand and not really hard but controlled, softer slaps, definitely slaps to his face.

"There was absolutely no indication of any aggression from Patrick."

Ms Collyer, who was visiting her mother at the care home, said Donkor and another nurse, Juliana, pleaded with her not to call the police over what she saw.

She said: "The nurses in charge were pleading with me not to say anything to anyone and Afua, who was sat in the corner of an office, was crying and saying 'not the police, not the police'."

Mr Austin had earlier become "agitated" and threw a cup of tea onto the floor, which Donkor had to clean up, the court heard.

Donkor, who had worked at Whitefarm Lodge for 16 months, told police after her arrest that he had punched her and that she held his wrists to prevent him hitting her again.

She told the court: "Once he punched me, I knew he was going to punch again.

"I know Patrick is very aggressive so I held him and shouted "help, help".

"Even when I held him, he tried to kick me and then I heard 'Afua, I have seen you hitting Patrick' and that was Lynne Collyer."

Magistrates took 45 minutes to reach a guilty verdict, causing Donkor to sob uncontrollably in the dock, sat with her head in her hands.

A spokesman for Care UK, which operates the Vicarage Road care home, said: "Following these allegations being made against a member of our team we immediately suspended the carer in question and notified the relevant external authorities, who we have fully co-operated with during their investigations.

"We will now be taking appropriate action in accordance with our internal procedures and will complete a review into the circumstances surrounding this matter to see if there are any lessons that can be learnt for the future."

Donkor will be sentenced at the same court on August 24.