An assault charge against an Adelaide aged care worker accused of hitting an 81-year-old patient in the face has been dropped. On Thursday, Phillip Athanasos, 46, walked free from the Adelaide Magistrates Court after maintaining his innocence since being charged over the incident at The Pines Lodge, in North Plympton, in January. Prosecutors asked Magistrate Greg Fisher for the charge to be withdrawn, before Athanasos was released from his bail obligations. Athanasos — who has been a carer at The Pines Lodge for more than eight years — denied the allegations, saying the elderly woman fell over and he tried to help her. In a statement, Martin Anders, for Athanasos, said: “At the outset the allegations were shrouded in assumption and conjecture. “Having secured the relevant evidence it is apparent that the evidence defies the assumptions, defies the conjecture and ultimately defies the allegations that caused the client to be charged.” During a previous court appearance, the court was told the patient suffered bruising to the neck and face, as well as two bleeds in the brain. It heard the victim claimed Athanasos hit her in the face, before putting his hand over her mouth and trying to stifle her. But the prosecutor conceded the victim didn’t have a good recollection of the incident. Pines Lodge owner Southern Cross Care had suspended him and started an internal inquiry.
