Two carers who tormented a severely disabled young student at the National Star College in Cheltenham, by repeatedly pausing movies he was watching have avoided jail for their callous year-long behaviour towards him.

James Ellison, 44, of Maythorn Drive, Cheltenham and Rashid Bhula, 59, of Jersey Road, Gloucester, were not reported for their heartless actions until they were observed by a member of staff from another residence who was doing a shift at the college in Ullenwood, near Cheltenham.

Other regular members of staff had earlier seen the way Ellison and Bhula were behaving towards the helpless young man but had said nothing, Gloucester Crown Court was told last Friday (July 14).

After Ellison and Bhula had both apologised in court to the family of the victim Judge Ian Lawrie KC said he believed they were capable of rehabilitation and he passed suspended jail sentences and ordered them both to do unpaid work for the community.

The judge said he had been 'shocked by the cruelty both men displayed' towards the victim.

After the hearing, the National Star College said it apologised 'unreservedly' to the young man and his family but was confident the behaviour of the two carers was a 'one-off' and steps had been taken 'to further strengthen our services and safeguarding processes.'

Prosecutor Simon Goodman told the court at the start of the hearing that the victim is a 'young adult who is non-verbal, has numerous complicated medical conditions and severe learning difficulties and needs full time care.'

He said "Despite his condition, he is a happy, smiley individual who enjoys simple pleasures like watching movies on his tablet.

"The offences came to light on May 30, 2021, when a carer from a different facility did a shift at the Star College and noticed that Ellison and Bhula had taken advantage of the young adult, having paused what he was watching on his tablet. While waiting for his reaction they were heard to say, 'Wait for it, wait for it...'

"The visiting carer noticed that the young adult seemed quite content, but when the video was stopped his behaviour changed and he began stamping his feet on the ground.

"The visiting carer said that the actions of Ellison and Bhula were tantamount to abuse, bullying and tormenting him. Because the carer was not normally employed at the college, the incident was not reported that day, but he did so a week later.

"An investigation was then carried out, following which it was discovered that other members of staff had seen Ellison and Bhula abusing the young adult this way, over a number of months, but hadn't seen fit to report it at the time. However, they did fully co-operate with the investigation.

"The report suggested that the two defendants had paused the film on the tablet to create a trigger for his reactions. One staff member suggested that Ellison was a 'wind-up merchant', with his actions mostly being directed at staff, rather than students.

"His impression was that, of the two of them, Ellison was the main instigator with Bhula happy to tag along. Another staff member went to check on the young adult when he started making high pitched noises indicating something was wrong.

"She noticed that the programme he had been watching had been paused.

"She pressed play, and this calmed him down. She went in again ten minutes later and noticed that his programme had again been paused. She pressed play again and saw Ellison and Bhula in the distance laughing to themselves.

"Another carer suggested that the relationship between Ellison and Bhula was getting in the way of their caring for the young adult, adding 'They were unprofessional around him and wound each other up and used the victim's behaviour as a trigger for their own entertainment, which affected their work in neglecting this student.

"Ellison told the investigators that his actions had been grossly inconsiderate rather than malicious. He added that neither of them had set out to harm the young adult, and that no malice had been intended."

Matthew Harbinson, for Bhula, said: "This period of employment was the only time he had worked in the care sector. He was receiving on the job training - however much of his employment was during the Covid-19 lockdown and he had to work with all the restrictions that were then involved in the care sector.

"It is an unusual feature in this case in that it took an outsider to raise these issues with management. A number of staff witnessed the behaviour of the defendants but didn't report it until an investigation was launched. Additional evidence was gained by the investigators viewing the CCTV. "

Judge Lawrie commented: "Bhula showed a cavalier disregard towards the care of this young man. He knew he was caring for a vulnerable person. The incident has had a further psychological effect on the young adult. I was shocked by the cruelty both defendants showed towards him."

Mr Harbinson added: "There were times when Bhula showed significant care to this young man. He has been in this country since the age of 13, having been brought up in Zambia.

"He has done a lot of volunteering work in his time. He had been a machine operator in a factory for 21 years prior to working at the National Star College. He had no formal training prior to starting work but was receiving on the job training."

Rhianna Fricker, for Ellison, said: "He had been manager of a golf course for five years before taking up employment at the college. He is very remorseful over his actions. Ellison has also been volunteering at an allotment where the produce is given to a foodbank.

"He is currently working as a driver and delivery driver. He has taken steps to understand what he put the victim through. He does not want to work in the care sector again. What he did on that occasion was out of character and he asks for forgiveness."

The judge said that to be forgiven, they needed to apologise to the family.

Bhula told the young adult's mother and his extended family: "I apologise to you and ask for forgiveness. This was not the real me. What I did was acting out of character. I hope he can move on and wish him all the best. I am sorry to have let him down as well as you, his wider family."

Ellison said: "I am sorry for what has happened to him. I regret my part in all this. I loved him very deeply and wish him well in his recovery. I'm sorry I don't have the words to really convey my feelings."

Both Ellison and Bhula admitted that between June 1, 2020, and May 31, 2021, at the National Star College they ill-treated or wilfully neglected having the young man in their care.

Judge Lawrie told the defendants: "Both of you have admitted that your conduct departed from the standards expected in caring for vulnerable people in your charge. I find it quite surprising, because neither of you appear heartless. Both of you came from a background of having responsibilities which show the better side to your character.

"I find it staggering therefore that you behaved in the way you did in creating an exercise in humiliation. You showed little care or regard over the harm that you caused. Neither of you showed any restraint or inhibition.

"I question whether you had ceased to care but I doubt that because of the clear evidence to the contrary. You had become cavalier in what you did to him. You have seen the impact statement the mother has made.

"You merit custody because you failed in your duties. It's a matter of humanity how you treat people who should receive care. They would be entitled to expect support in all aspects of their lives and that their situation should not be made worse.

"Ultimately, you failed the parents and the rest of the staff who would expect to see you punished accordingly because of the treatment you inflicted on numerous occasions on your victim and your behaviour caused additional psychological difficulties by your disregard over the vulnerabilities of this young man.

"However, having followed the sentencing guidelines I am not going to lock you up today because despite everything there is a prospect of rehabilitation.

"This is because both of you have used the past two years to take steps to address your offending and with the benefit of hindsight you now realise you departed from the standards of care expected of you, which was echoed in your apology to your victim's family."

The judge sentenced Ellison to six months imprisonment and Bhula to 29 weeks but suspended both jail terms for 18 months. The judge ordered Ellison to do 100 hours of unpaid work and Bhula 150 hours.

Additionally, Ellison was ordered to complete 15 rehabilitation activity requirement days and pay court costs of £150. The judge ordered Bhula to pay court costs of £500.

Speaking after the hearing, National Star's chief executive Lynette Barrett, said: "The charity apologises unreservedly to this young person and his family for the distress this incident has caused them.

"As a charity we strive to deliver high quality services in care and education and regret that, through two individuals' actions, a young person in our care suffered undue distress.

"We have worked closely with the family and supported them throughout this process. The young person has remained with National Star, and is happy, thriving and progressing extremely well.

"We would like to pay tribute to the staff who raised their concerns about this incident. Their commitment to do what's in the best interest of those in our care is exemplary and embodies the charity's values of treating those trusted in our care with dignity and respect.

"This incident happened during the pandemic when every resident was treated as an isolated single unit or bubble and staff were based in that unit.

"This isolated incident demonstrates how critical it is to have robust safeguarding processes and transparency and to work closely with the young people and their families. These are all crucial to ensure institutional poor or abusive practice can't root itself in any organisation responsible for the care and welfare of vulnerable people.

"The charity made several changes following the investigation. This included increasing the operational management structure in the residence, reintroducing hands-on quality assurance and mentoring of new staff, even though Covid restrictions made this challenging.

"Visible and 'proactive' leadership has always been deemed as critical to maintain quality at National Star, again this incident demonstrates the importance of this culture. All staff received further training in safer working practices and in the charity's cultures and values.

"We are confident that the depth of investigation and our subsequent actions has enabled us to ensure this incident was a one-off and that we have taken steps to further strengthen our services and safeguarding processes to ensure we provide quality care which always puts the young person at the heart of everything we do."