Salzburg court gives care worker suspended sentence for abusing pensioner

A 53-year-old Romanian care worker has received an eight-month suspended prison sentence for abusing and neglecting an elderly woman from the Flachgau region of Salzburg, ORF reported. The verdict, issued in Salzburg on Thursday, is final. The worker must also pay the woman’s family 1,000 euros in compensation.

The woman has an illness that severely affects her motor skills and memory. According to the indictment, the caregiver hit and neglected her. When the woman refused food or drink because of her illness, the caregiver allegedly insulted and shoved her while changing her, hit her legs, pulled her hair and threatened her.

The woman’s relatives had installed a hidden camera after becoming suspicious. Recordings captured the caregiver’s conduct and helped confirm it in court.

The court allowed the secretly recorded footage as evidence after weighing the filmed woman’s right to privacy against the interest in proving a crime. Such recordings can be admitted only in certain exceptional circumstances.