Sex assault carer's sentence cut

Gareth Jones worked at the home for two years

A carer convicted of a "sadistic" sexual assault on a 77-year-old dementia patient has had his nine-year jail sentence cut by two years.

Gareth Jones, 23, of Trecastle, Powys was jailed at Newport Crown Court last July after denying sexual activity with a person with a mental disorder.

But judges at the Court of Appeal in London described the original sentence as "manifestly excessive".

The assault took place at The Mountains Nursing Home in Libanus, near Brecon.

Jones' victim needed emergency surgery after losing a litre of blood in the attack.

The assault took place on the night of 13 February 2007, as Jones was putting the woman to bed, Newport Crown Court heard last July.

Jones was working alone, which is against the nursing home's protocol, and later asked a member of staff to lie and say he had worked with her all night.

The victim did not give evidence at the trial because of her mental condition.

During the trial, prosecutor Ieuan Morris said Jones subjected the woman to a "cruel, deplorable, sexual and sadistic attack while alone with her in her bedroom".