A psychiatric nurse who bullied and assaulted a disabled patient has been jailed for four months.

Ian Caine, 48, was found guilty of offences under the Mental Health Act of ill-treating Paul Blake, 25, and appeared in court on Monday for sentencing.

The court earlier heard how Caine, knowing that Mr Blake was very sensitive to heat, had forced him to drink scalding tea, causing his lips to blister.

He also dug his elbows into Mr Blake's breastbone on more than one occasion.

'Most vulnerable'

Passing sentence, Judge Alan Goldsack QC, said Caine's behaviour and failure to accept responsibility for his actions left him no option by to impose a custodial sentence.

He said: "This was not one isolated incident but a course of conduct and ill-treatment which took more than one form

"It was carried out on one of the most vulnerable members of society - a man seriously disabled from birth, without speech and therefore unable to complain."

The judge said Caine, of Brinsworth, Rotherham, had let down himself and other members of the nursing profession.

The disgraced nurse was brought to justice after his colleagues on the Ash Ward on the Beechcroft Unit at Rotherham Psychiatric Hospital - where Caine was in charge - made complaints about him and an official investigation was launched.

Denials

He had denied five charges of ill-treating patients between June 1991 and September 1995. The jury found him guilty of one offence, cleared him of another, and were unable to reach verdicts on the remaining three.

Jeremy Barker QC, defending Caine, said his client "was not the only person investigated by the health authority, but he was the only one to be brought to court".

He added: "He has spent 30 years in the caring profession, working his way up to a position of responsibility. As a result of his conviction, all of this is totally lost to him."

A spokesman for Rotherham Priority Health NHS Trust said Caine had been dismissed from his position and measure had been introduced to minimise the risk of similar incidents occurring.

He said: "Today's sentence marks the end of a difficult and distressing time for residents, parents, carers and staff associated with the Beechcroft Unit.

"It is important that the Trust now turns its attention to the future and builds on the considerable work already done to establish Rotherham as the centre of excellence for treatment of patients with learning difficulties."