A CARER who sprayed deodorant over a man with severe learning difficulties, leaving him looking as though he had been dipped in flour, has been jailed for seven months.

Nicholas Howard, a father-of-one, who worked for Lifeways Community Care, also pulled the ears of the victim who lived in a bungalow in Badger Court, off Brierley Hill Road in Wordsley.

Members of staff had seen Howard close the door of the bungalow as the end of his shift and when they checked on the man, who needed round-the-clock daily care, they discovered he had been sprayed with deodorant.

Police were immediately alerted and Howard - who said he entered the care industry because he wanted to look after people with difficulties - was suspended from his position.

Howard, of Roberts Green Road, Dudley, had denied wilfully neglecting a person without mental capacity but he was convicted by the jury at the end of his trial at Wolverhampton Crown Court.

In evidence Howard maintained he had left an overnight bag containing deodorant in the lounge of the man's bungalow and he believed he had sprayed himself.

"I did not do it and I did nothing to cause the bruising to his ears," he went on.

He accepted the man could be "challenging" but added, "I have never lost my temper with a client. I have no idea how he sustained his injuries."

The former factory worker told the jurors he would have done nothing to jeopardise his job and he treated the man's condition very seriously.

Judge Amjad Nawaz told Howard he had been trusted to care for the very vulnerable man and instead of showing a degree of compassion he had humiliated his victim.

The 44-year-old man had been in care for the majority of his life and the message had to go out, stressed the judge, that people who abused those less fortunate had to know they would be spending time behind bars.

David Munro, defending, said Howard had acted completely out of character and the consequences of what he did were grave and he realised he would never again be able to work in the care industry.

Howard, he said, now had financial problems after losing his employment, he had fallen behind with his mortgage payments and his family were in danger of losing their home.

"He will have to live with the shame of this conviction for the rest of his life," said Mr Munro.

"Whatever sparked this we do not know. But there is nothing at all to suggest he had any hostility towards this man."

Simon Phillips, prosecuting had told the trial it could only have been Howard who ill-treated the victim while afterwards DC Sarah West from West Midlands Police said his colleagues had been concerned with his general behaviour and his lack of patience.