TWO care workers colluded to cover up that an 87-year-old woman fell on the floor with such force that she fractured her pelvis and suffered severe facial bruising, a court heard.

Susan Logan and Lauren Gillies were both jailed for six months following a sentencing hearing at Bolton Crown Court.

Ethel Rider, who suffers from dementia which has left her mute, fell on the floor at Half Acre Care Home, in Radcliffe, and an ambulance was not called for more than 24 hours.

To prevent bed sores, Mrs Rider had to be turned over every two hours throughout the night, which care home policy states requires two people to complete safely.

But Logan carried out the move on her own, at about 5am on May 19 last year, and when she began to reach for a towel, Logan let go and Mrs Rider fell to the floor.

The court was told that Logan pressed an emergency button soon after the incident, and her supervisor Gillies attended to help hoist Mrs Rider back onto her bed, which Jonathan Turner, prosecuting, said would have left her in further pain.

Logan told Gillies what had happened, and the pair decided to concoct a story to cover their tracks.

The court also heard that Logan falsified the care home's records to make it appear that two people had been helping to turn Mrs Rider.

Mrs Rider was only taken to hospital at about 7am on March 20, after another member of staff noticed her condition and that her foot was not in place correctly.

Police launched an investigation and in their first interview both denied any role, but later confessed.

Judge Timothy Stead said that staff had "put their own self interest ahead of residents" by arranging chores at the care home in a way which would maximise the time they had for breaks, and that it represented a "combination of idleness and self interest."

Addressing the defendants, Judge Stead said: "The public have a right to expect the highest standards in such cases.

"What you did between the two of you was outrageous. Your decisions have been described as stupid, but I would use a stronger world. They were wrong, and they were criminally wrong."

Ethel Rider’s daughter Julie Murphy and her husband Russell, who live in Ringley, were in court for the hearing.

Mr Murphy, aged 52, said: “We didn’t expect them to get a prison sentence, so we were quite happy at the outcome.

“It is difficult to tell whether she has improved because she can’t communicate, but going off things like temperature, she seems to be well.”

Logan, aged 59, of Trencherbone, Radcliffe, had worked at the care home for 10 years and was said to be "genuinely remorseful" and Gillies, aged 25, of Stubbins Street, Ramsbottom, who had rose to the position of supervisor during her two-and-a-half years at the care home, said she was "devastated" by what had happened.

The pair, who both no longer work at the home, both previously pleaded guilty to one charge of wilful neglect at an earlier hearing.