The Last Night: A Caregiver, A Camera, And A Silent Room

A deeply disturbing case from the UK on Monday, June 30, 2025, has drawn global attention to the urgent need for stricter oversight in elderly care.

In December 2022, just one day before 88-year-old dementia patient John Attard was found unresponsive in his home, hidden CCTV footage captured a horrifying episode of abuse at the hands of his caregiver, Bilikesu Olagunju.

The footage recorded in Mr. Attard’s home in Bexley, Kent, shows Olagunju, a 42-year-old caregiver from Nigeria, shouting, threatening, and physically mistreating the frail man over a 45-minute period.

“Maybe I’ll beat you up.

“I’ll flog you.

“I’ll take you to the GP to get injections.

“I’ll call the police on you,” she said during the ordeal.

The video also shows her dragging him across the floor, stripping him in view of the street, and ignoring his repeated cries of pain.

The very next morning, on Christmas Day, Mr. Attard’s son, Chris, found him unresponsive with blood on his face.

He was rushed to hospital, never regained consciousness, and passed away ten days later.

While a post-mortem couldn’t definitively link the abuse to his death, the family believes the trauma hastened it.

Olagunju, who had been on the job for only six days with care agency Unique Personnel UK, pleaded guilty to one count of ill-treatment or wilful neglect.

She received a six-week prison sentence, suspended for 18 months, along with 50 hours of community service.

Chris Attard, devastated and angry, condemned the light sentence: “It’s an insult. What kind of deterrent is that?”

Addressing the court through tears, he described the agony of watching his father suffer.

“She lifted him like a rag doll. His face was distorted with pain,” he said.

“Our pain will still be here. You can never take back the memories you left my father with at the end of his life.”

The court reviewed the footage in detail, which began with Olagunju arriving to help Mr. Attard with bathing and breakfast.

She yelled at him to stand, poured sugary marmalade into his coffee despite his diabetes, and spilled the hot drink on him.

At one point, she was advised by her employer not to move him after he fell, but ignored the advice and tried to drag him upright, complaining that “a man” should have been sent.

Judge Charlotte Welsh was scathing in her remarks.

“It beggars belief that someone would be allocated an elderly man with dementia as their first client,” she said, citing poor training and a lack of respect for the dignity the job requires.

“Being a carer is very difficult, and people don’t appreciate it until they need it.”

Olagunju silently cried in court as her lawyer, Mr. Tijani, said she accepted full responsibility and was “ashamed” of her actions.

He also emphasized that she was new to the UK, had no prior convictions, and lacked proper training to handle such a vulnerable patient.

But for the Attard family, the court’s verdict failed to deliver justice.

Chris has now shifted his focus to holding Unique Personnel UK accountable.

“They should have been in the dock,” he said.

“Where were the checks?

“Where was the training?

“This is a company sending strangers into the homes of the most vulnerable.”

The care agency had not commented on the case at the time of the report.

This incident has sparked renewed calls among caregivers, families, and healthcare advocates for more rigorous screening, training, and monitoring in the caregiving industry, especially for workers tasked with supporting those living with dementia.

For many, it is a chilling reminder that behind closed doors, the most vulnerable still need vigilant protection.

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