THE FAMILY of an ex-carer who assaulted a patient at Benore Care Centre in Ballingry have condemned his actions.

Liam Stark, who was sentenced to 300 hours of unpaid work at Kirkcaldy Sherrif Court on February 20, has been publicly renounced by family members on Facebook. 

The 22-year-old previously admitted to charges of assault and breach of the peace against an 88-year-old woman who is suffering from advanced Dementia. 

Wullie Stark, the great uncle of Liam Stark, took to social media to slam his actions. He wrote: "In light of the recent court case and sentencing of Liam Stark, I feel I need to make this statement.

"As far as I am concerned Liam Stark is now no longer part of our family and neither is anyone who supports him.

"What he did was the most disgusting and degrading thing, to a defenceless old lady. His gran, Mary Stark, would have been horrified if she had been alive.

"I want to apologise to [the victim's family] for the fact that something related to me was capable of such a heinous act.

"The [victim's] family should be proud of themselves for the way they have conducted themselves through all of this. It must have been so difficult for you all.

"The sentence he received was nothing short of shocking. No protection for our old folk whatsoever and he will probably get a job again in a care home.

"We need to make sure this never happens by letting everyone know what he has done."

He went on to urge other people in the care profession to speak out if they ever see anything inappropriate or illegal at work. 

He continued: "Please, please, if any carers reading this; if you see something at work and you know it’s not right, you are the resident's voice, report it and keep reporting it until something is done. You have a duty to protect them."

The victim's son, who reported the assault to the police and fought to get justice for his mum, has said that the whole family has been left "devastated" by the sentence that Stark received. 

He told the Times: "I was absolutely stunned, shocked and stunned. What the judge said was that if he had been over 25 then he would have jailed him, the sentence that he has given out is the maximum that is open to him. 

"It wasn’t enough but that’s the sentence. We’re just devastated.

"The community service, I mean the boy doesn’t work so it's no hardship to him. If it was somebody who was in their job Monday to Friday, and then had to spend his weekends doing it then there would be a slight punishment there but with him not working I feel like there’s no punishment. He’ll go to that twice a week, two days out of seven.

"I just feel like he’s got away with it."

The man, who says that his family has been left to "pick up the pieces" after this horrific ordeal feels that Stark has gotten away with a "slap on the wrist". 

"We all were totally devastated when we heard the sentence," he continued. "We’re trying to get on with it, the courts are obviously finished with it so we just need to try and move on.

"It’s hard but what else can we do? It’s a tricky situation, trying to move on, but we’re trying to do it.

"It’s just a slap on the wrist, he’s living his life and nothing has happened to him. He’s just going about doing the exact same thing.

"He can get on with it whereas we’re trying to pick up the pieces and move on. It’s really hard."

He also feels as though his family are not the only ones suffering now that Stark's crimes have come to light. 

The son continued: "The Stark family are also victims in this, Wullie Stark and that, they’re nice people and they didn't deserve that, their name getting dragged through the dirt.

"They had nothing to do with it, it was only one member of the Stark family. "

Despite the difficult situation, the victim is "bright enough and happy enough for now" and the family are grateful for that, and for the support they have received from the community. 

He added: "The community has been brilliant, they were completely angered and frustrated also but they’ve been really good.

"I’ve had a lot of messages and phone calls with folk asking how my mum was, wishing us all the best and saying the same thing, that it’s unbelievable, the sentence that he got.  

"Thank you to everybody for the support that they gave us."