Whorlton Hall: Worker was 'showing off' to documentary maker

Niall Mellor told jurors that he was ‘showing off’ in an attempt to impress reporter Olivia Davies while she was secretly working at a specialist hospital unit.

The 26-year-old is one of nine former members of staff from Whorlton Hall who were charged with ill-treating patients following the Panorama undercover investigation in 2019.

Mellor told jurors that he had made a complaint to the Care Quality Commission about the behaviour of a former member of staff after a complaint was not dealt with to his satisfaction.

Read next: Convicted rapist jailed for failing to register TikTok and Snapchat aliases

He said the pair, who cannot be named for legal reasons, were having an affair and they were both suspended and sacked as a result of his concerns.

Niall Mellor (Image: The Northern Echo)

Dealing with his actions caught on camera, the defendant said he was just ‘showing off’ and was now disgusted by the language he used.

His defence counsel, Robin Patton, asked the defendant why he was unknowingly looking directly at the covert camera. He said: “She was a very attractive girl.”

He asked: “Were you trying to show off?”. Mellor replied: “Yes, at the time I was trying to impress her.”

Mr Patton quizzed the defendant about his reaction when he watched the Panorama investigation when it was broadcast.

Mellor said: “I was disgusted with myself. How I talked about people – it was disgusting.”

Filmed over several weeks, the reporter captured the defendants allegedly tormenting one distressed patient who was seen to scream in anguish and hit herself as staff encouraged her or threatened to remove all female staff.

Miss Davies worked as a care assistant at the unit near Barnard Castle while recording the actions of staff in January and February 2019.

Whorlton Hall

Mr Patton asked: “Did you believe you had ever ill-treated any of the patients?” Mellor simply replied: “No, not at all.”

Earlier in the trial, Ryan Fuller denied doing anything to deliberately aggravate patients while he was at work.

He told jurors that some of the patients were very strong and could become violent when they became stressed of anxious.

Ryan Fuller (Image: The Northern Echo)

Under cross examination from prosecuting counsel, Anne Richardson, the 27-year-old said he was concerned about seeming unprofessional when he was recorded saying he had taught a patient to swear with a hand gesture.

The accused are:

• John Sanderson, 25, of Cambridge Avenue, Willington, faces two charges of care worker ill-treatment or wilful neglect of an individual on February 2 and 25, 2019.

• Darren Mark Lawton, 47, of Miners Crescent, Darlington, by virtue of being a care worker, allegedly ill-treated or wilfully neglected a patient on January 27, 2019, and faces the same charge relating to a different patient on February 2.

• Niall Mellor, 26, of Lingmell Dene, Coundon, Bishop Auckland, is accused of the ill-treatment or wilful neglect of a patient on two occasions on January 20 and 24, 2019.

• Sarah Banner, 33, from Faulkner Road, Newton Aycliffe, stands accused of three charges of ill-treatment or neglect of a female in her care on January 24 and of a male patient the following day.

• Matthew Banner, 43, of the same Newton Aycliffe address, faced six charges all relating to the same patient at Whorlton Hall on separate occasions between January 6 and February 22.

Read more:

• Boy, 14, who boasted about knife attack convicted of murder of Tomasz Oleszak
• Pervert jailed for downloading sick videos of children being sexually abused
• Teen arrested as two in hospital with life-threatening injuries after horror crash

​If you want to read more stories, why not subscribe to your Northern Echo for as little as £1.25 a week. Click here

• Ryan Fuller, 27, from of Deerbolt Bank, Barnard Castle, faced ten charges of ill-treatment or wilful neglect against six different patients January 19 and February 2.

• Sabah Mahmood, 27, of Woodland Crescent, Kelloe, is accused of, by virtue of being a care worker, ill-treating or wilfully neglecting a male patient on January 4, 2019.

• Peter Bennett, 53, of Redworth Road, Billingham, faced three charges in total relating to two female patients, on January 6 and February 24.

• Karen McGhee, 54, from Wildair Close, Darlington, faced a total of four charges relating to a male and a female patient which were all said to have happened in January 2019.

The trial continues.