A CARE home manager sent to perform an assessment of an elderly and vulnerable man found the conditions he was living in to be a "disgrace", a court heard.

Wendy Selby visited Highdell Nursing Home in Idle, Bradford, on December 20, 2013, to see if the needs of dementia sufferer Edward Hinnells, 79, could be met at the Ashville residential home, also in Idle, where she was the registered manager.

Mr Hinnells was moved to Ashville, which specialises in dementia care, ten days later.

Eight staff at Highdell are on trial at Bradford Crown Court accused of leaving Mr Hinnells in conditions of "abject squalor and filth."

All say his behaviour was "challenging" and deny neglecting him.

When Mrs Selby was asked by prosecutor Stephen Wood what first struck her about Mr Hinnells' room, she replied: "The odour."

She said it was a "combination of smoke, urine, faeces and stale body odour."

She added: "The floor was sticky, it was the kind of place where you wiped your feet on the way out."

Mrs Selby said she had been told by staff that Mr Hinnells didn't come out of his room as he didn't like socialising, but when she asked him, he said if he did try to leave the room he was sworn at and told to get back inside.

During her visit, Mrs Selby said she spoke to Phillippa Robinson, who she described as part of the home's management team.

Jayne Beckett, for Robinson, said her client had been professional and cooperative during Mrs Selby's visit.

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She admitted there had been a communication breakdown between Mr Hinnell's family and the home, which had included allegations of an assault against him.

Asked why she had not confronted Robinson on the cleanliness of the room, Mrs Selby said she had, telling the court: "I wouldn't have just walked out.

"I have been doing this job for 30 years and there is no way I would have left someone in that state.

"It was a disgrace, but I can't remember if I used that word. It needed gutting and re-starting again, it was that bad."

Asked whether the level of cleanliness was acceptable, she said: "No. There was no reason for it to be at that level."

Robinson, 57, a senior nurse and registered mental health nurse, of Hall Royd, Shipley; Stephen Pelkowski, 51, the manager of Highdell, of Lodge Hill, Addingham; Jennifer Cross, 60, a senior care assistant, of The Green, Idle; Nicki Kassama, 30, a carer, of Wrose Mount, Wrose, Shipley; Valerie James, 58, a senior carer, of Stonegate Road, Eccleshill, Bradford; Desmond Crowley, 59, a staff nurse and registered mental health nurse, of Hazelhurst Brow, Daisy Hill, Bradford; Gerard McDermott, 58, a registered mental health nurse, of Maria Street, Ilkley; and Piotr Czajkowski, 49, a cleaner, of Ravenscliffe Avenue, Ravenscliffe, Bradford, all deny one count of wilful neglect of a person who lacks capacity.

The trial continues.