A VULNERABLE woman was heard crying out while her care worker poured water on her head and swore at her, a court heard.

The 44-year-old woman suffers from a rare genetic disorder which leaves her completely dependent on support workers.

The court heard she was being bathed when the alleged incident took place at a Bolton Councilrun sheltered accommodation in Worsley Road, Farnworth.

Ann Leach, aged 48, of Piggott Street, Farnworth, is charged with 10 counts of ill treatment of a person without capacity.

Her colleague, Joanne Robinson, aged 47, of Bolton Road, Kearsley, is charged with six counts of the same offence.

Both women deny the charges, which are alleged to have taken place in 2010.

At their trial at Manchester Crown Court yesterday, support worker Denise Tatlock said she heard “a commotion”

and saw Leach in the bathroom swearing at the woman, who was obviously distressed.

Mrs Tatlock said: “I heard her crying and she sounded very upset.

“The bathroom door was open, so there was no privacy for her for a start.

“Ann was pouring water over her head and you could hear the woman’s distinctive cry.

“Ann was swearing, it was as though she was really annoyed.”

On another occasion, Mrs Tatlock said she saw Robinson shouting at the woman and pulling her up off the floor.

“I heard the woman crying. She has a particular distinctive cry so I could tell she was really upset.

“I heard Joanne raise her voice saying ‘Come on get up, get up’.

“That’s not a way that I would have asked her to get up.

“She sat firmly on the floor, she was sort of being pulled up,” she said.

Mrs Tatlock told the court she got on well with both defendants, but that they sometimes lacked motivation.

“Sometimes they would not be motivated with the job and sometimes they didn’t show any warmth towards the service users.

“I felt sometimes they were impatient,” she said.

She told the court she did not have the courage to talk to the defendants directly, but was planning to raise the matter with her manager.

The trial continues.