Student nurse Lucy Brown reported horrendous incidents that she witnessed at Whipps Cross hospital in Leytonstone, east London. She saw Akousa Sakyiwaa, 38, and Sharmila Gunda, 36, not providing care to the frail women as they were supposed to. Instead, they were regularly hitting them. They also told them to keep mum when the women complained.

Sakyiwaa once covered an 87-year-old and told her she was dead at the hospital. Thanks to the student nurse, who blew the whistle to expose what she saw daily for months. She was heard on the now-closed Beech Ward, Snaresbrook Crown Court.

Sakyiwaa, of Leytonstone, was sentenced to one-year jail for neglect and ill-treatment. Gunda, on the other hand, was termed five-month jail for neglect and assault.

Aneetted Jackson, fellow health care assistant, 33, of Hounslow, west London, was ordered two-month suspended sentence. Also, she was ordered to complete 100 hours of unpaid work after being convicted of one count of ill-treatment or neglect.

Judge Timothy Lamb QC told the jury, "An entitlement to proper care should not be a matter of chance or be given at the whim of the carer. The conduct complained of simply had no place on any ward".