A care worker who abused a 95-year-old blind woman says he will never forgive himself for his actions.

Pedro Dias, 21, said he has been threatened in the street in the days since a judge allowed him to walk free from court for attacking the woman, who also has dementia.

The Portuguese national said he is so horrified by his actions that he cannot bear to watch the footage of the abuse, which was filmed on secret cameras installed by Lynne Nuttall to film her mother, Marjorie’s quality of care.

Dias has apologised for his actions. But the woman’s daughter hasn’t accepted.

Dias is also putting some of the blame on Prestbury House Care Home, where the incident happened, claiming bosses failed to act when he raised concerns about stress, staffing levels and management of the service.

His allegations are strongly refuted by the home.

Dias and Piotre Ciecielowski, 26, verbally abused their victim as they got her ready for bed.

At Chester Crown Court, Ciecielowski, of Brown Street, Macclesfield, and Dias of Rodney Street, Macclesfield, both admitted ill-treatment while working as a carer and were sentenced to nine months prison, suspended for two years and ordered to complete 250 hours unpaid work.

Dias, speaking exclusively to the Macclesfield Express, said: “I will never forgive myself for what I did to that lady. There is no excuse for what I did, I take full responsibility. I am totally ashamed.

“Until that night I had worked with the lady for many months. I liked her, she was a real character.

“I knew how her illness made her behave sometimes, but that night I was a monster. Circumstances with staffing, management, built and built and then something snapped. I don’t even recognise myself on that film.

“I have a mother, grandparents, and I couldn’t bare for them to experience what that lady did. It is not who I am.

“I am not aggressive or violent. It was a bad moment and I want to apologise to her and her family for what they have been put through.”

Dias added: “I am relieved the judge saw that my actions on that night were not my normal character or a pattern of behaviour.

“People in my community do not agree and I have been threatened. I will just need to accept what I did was wrong and apologise.”

Dias claims that he expressed his concerns about the impact of stress, insufficient staffing and poor management was having on him in August 2016, nine months before the incident.

He said: “Nothing happened. I complained, I warned them. If anything, things got worse. While I accept what I did was horrible I do feel the care home could have prevented it from happening.”

In a CQC report published in November 2016, inspectors found that 'staffing levels were structured to meet the needs of people who used the service' and the home was rated 'good'.

The woman’s daughter Mrs Nuttall said she did not accept Dias’ apology.

“Regardless of whatever training he has had or whatever stress he was under you don’t behave like that,” she said.

“There is no excuse for it.”

She thanked readers for their support, but urged people not to wish violence on Dias and Ciecielowski.

In September, the Care Quality Commission downgraded Prestbury House Care Home to ‘inadequate’, a ranking which is being 'strongly challenged', the home say.

After the Express spoke with Dias, a spokesperson for the home said: "This wholly unacceptable act was committed by two rogue individuals. Mr Dias had been at work just 18 minutes, on his first shift following a four day break.

“We categorically refute their claims as they try to defend the indefensible – there is no justification for their inhumane and disgraceful behaviour, which is an insult to the tireless work of all the professional, caring and dedicated care workers at our home, and across the UK.

“At the time of the incident, the CQC assessment of the home was that, ‘there was a robust management structure in place’, ‘staff received support when they needed it’, ‘staff had the skills and knowledge’ needed, ‘staffing levels were structured to meet the needs of the people who used the service’ and ‘there were sufficient numbers of staff on duty to meet people’s assessed needs.’

“Our policy is to always provide more than the required number of staff so that residents receive the very best care – our 94percent resident approval rating, and 9.6/10 carehome.co.uk score are testimony to the high standards we maintain.

“Residents, their families and the Local Authority all remain very supportive of the home, and do not accept the findings of the most recent CQC report, which we are strongly challenging.”