Five Members Of Staff At Mayo’s Áras Attracta To Face Assault Charges Following RTÉ Exposé

Five members of staff at Mayo's Áras Attracta will face assault charges in the wake of an RTÉ exposé at the nursing home. The harrowing RTÉ Prime Time Investigates documentary Inside Bungalow Three was aired last December and captured abusive and cruel behaviour by some members of staff towards vulnerable residents at the facility. The disturbing footage showed three female residents at the Swinford home being slapped, dragged across the floor and verbally abused, with one 53-year-old woman with severe intellectual disabilities seen being struck by a worker and later told "If you died Ivy, I wouldn’t bring you to the toilet". Several investigations were launched by the HSE, HIQA and An Garda Síochána in the wake of the programme and RTÉ are reporting this evening that a file on the case was sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions in January. It has claimed that five members of staff at the home will now be brought to court on assault charges, which carry a penalty of a €1,905 fine or up to six months in jail.