A CARE worker was subjected to a terrifying attack at the hands of a 14-year-old boy with learning difficulties after her employers switched off her panic alarm – but failed to tell staff.
Jennifer Stafford, 39, was working as a residential support worker at children's home Hargrave House, in Great Baddow, when she was repeatedly hit by the 6ft 2in teenager.
Essex County Council has now admitted liability for the long-term injuries she sustained after switching off the fob alarms issued to staff, but insists it has since improved safety for those working with children with special needs.
Jennifer, who lives in Melbourne, said: "It was a terrifying incident that has knocked my confidence and left with me with lasting physical injuries.
"I loved my job, but it could be dangerous because of the issues some of our patients had. I had trusted that I was protected because of the alarm I had been given and I never would have imagined that it would have been turned off."
Jennifer originally began working for the 16-bedroom care home on Molrams Lane in 2006 after relocating from London. She provided support in the day-to-day care of its young residents, many of whom suffer with severe learning difficulties.
On October 30, 2011, she found herself supervising two teenage boys alone when one became violent.
She told the Chronicle: "He didn't go out to attack me; I had stood between him and another child who he was going to hit. I was guiding him back with his shoulder but then he turned on me.
"I was hit on the head, face and ear. I was exposed as he pulled my top off and the other boy was laughing. I was trying to pull my top down which was what stopped me being able to fend off the blows.
"The lady I was with heard me and came rushing out but when she came to my assistance the other boy jumped on her back and stopped her getting to me."
Both women were furiously pressing their fob panic alarms throughout the attack but no help came until their screams alerted three other members of staff – and it later emerged the alarms were switched off at the time of the incident.
Stuart Bacon, a personal injury lawyer at BTMK Solicitors, who represented Ms Stafford, said: "This was a shocking failure by an employer to protect a carer who was working in a dangerous environment."
Jennifer, who has 22 years of experience in the care industry, emerged with scratches and bruises to her neck and chest, and was later diagnosed with long-term degenerative nerve damage in her neck, the severity of which had been accelerated by the incident by five to eight years.
After the attack Essex County Council was issued with an improvement notice by the Health and Safety Executive, which determined that "adequate measures to control and mitigate risks from violence and aggression have not been taken" for Hargrave House, a requirement which was complied with by July 2012.
A spokesman for the council said: "This was a serious incident and we deeply regret the injuries and distress it caused to Ms Stafford."
