The former vice-president of the Porto Moniz nursing home accused of mistreating an elderly woman, Ana Serralha, was sentenced this Wednesday to a two-year prison sentence, suspended in execution for the same period.
The Madeira District Court decided to sentence Ana Serralha to a two-year suspended prison sentence, for the crime of ill-treatment, on condition that she pay 1,000 euros to the Princess D. Amélia Foundation, indicated the president of the group of judges, Joana Dias , during the reading of the ruling, which took place at the Funchal Criminal Court.
At the end of the session, the defendant’s lawyer, Duarte Fernandes, announced that he will appeal the decision, arguing that his client is innocent.
“There is no person who has definitively seen Dr. Ana Serralha giving any order to harass an elderly person. In this case, it would be some pills to make the elderly person calmer”, he stated, adding that “there is no responsibility on the part of Dr. Ana Serralha about the case.”
In May 2022, four employees accused of mistreating elderly people at that institution, in the north of the island of Madeira, were sentenced to suspended prison sentences and one was acquitted.
Ana Serralha, a former PSD deputy in the regional parliament, was not tried at the time as she was partly uncertain, having later announced that she was living in England.
Her trial has now taken place, separately from the other defendants.
The facts highlighted by the Public Prosecutor’s Office occurred between 2009, the year in which the Porto Moniz Nursing Home came into operation, and the beginning of 2018, when the management was suspended, following a process brought by Social Security.
Several complaints from family members were reported over the years, which led to an inspection and, later, the presentation of a complaint to the Public Ministry by the Regional Government of Madeira, in 2018.
Tags: caretaker home Madeira sentenced suspended prison sentence illtreatment Portugal
