An aged care worker has been found guilty of bashing a dementia patient in his care at an Adelaide nursing home. Michael Mullen, 55, claims the 77-year-old woman received the injuries from a fall. Mullen is due to reappear in court in April before being sentenced. A man who savagely bashed and choked a great-grandmother had targeted the vulnerable in NSW nursing homes during a string of terrifying robberies before being caught by police. Peter Bui, 44, first broke into Orange’s Ascott Gardens Nursing Home in November last year and stole cash from a resident’s wallet before throwing a bag containing a used incontinence pad at a nurse when he was confronted, agreed facts state. About two weeks later Bui snuck into 84-year-old great-grandmother Patricia Maton’s home at Huon Park Retirement Village in Turramurra and stole valuable jewellery including a solitaire diamond ring. Ms Maton returned to her unit after seeing her doctor and asked Bui what he was doing near her jewellery box when he savagely set upon her, punching her to the floor and choking her until she momentarily lost consciousness. Bui’s attack on Ms Maton increased in severity when women walked past the unit down a hallway because she believed he was trying to keep her quiet and once the noise had passed he fled, the fact sheet states. Ms Maton crawled to a phone with multiple facial injuries and called her daughter before emergency crews rushed her to hospital where she had to undergo an operation which revealed a deep laceration inside her mouth. A follow-up consultation revealed she suffers from ongoing symptoms of anxiety and depression following the attack. The next month Bui’s family member took a call from police and immediately phoned him to ask if he had done anything wrong. Bui replied “nothing, but if they ask you anything tell them I was with you on those dates” and the family member hung up on him, according to the documents. Bui, of Orange, was arrested later that day at a service station in Wahroonga and hit with a string of serious charges including the attempted murder of Ms Maton. The documents state before his arrest Bui had also stolen jewellery from a unit on Coollooli Dr in Narrabeen and when he was arrested he was found wearing a stolen watch from the flat. An RSL LifeCare Village is located on that Narrabeen street. Court records show Bui’s attempted murder charge was withdrawn and he will be sentenced in February over multiple other charges including inflicting grievous bodily harm. His matter has been moved up to the District Court for sentencing from the Local Court because his charges are so serious. Ms Maton’s daughter Caroline previously said her mother, who has lived in Turramurra and St Ives for most of her life, had been a resident of the home for only six week before the attack. “She just can’t believe this has happened and she feels extremely violated – your home is supposed to be your safe place,” the daughter said.
