Carer handed warning after stealing juice and dozens of turkey escalopes from Edinburgh care home

An Edinburgh carer has been handed a warning after stealing cartons of juice and dozens of turkey escalopes from a care home where he worked.

Dennis Manu was found to have taken around six cartons of apple juice and enough turkey escalopes to feed around 30 people from the kitchen fridge without permission in December 2024.

The Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) placed a warning on his care registration for 36 months.

Manu was employed as a senior carer by Abercorn Care Ltd at View Park Care Home in Edinburgh.

His former manager said that items had been going missing from the kitchen over an 18 month period. A couple weeks prior to the escalopes being taken, the manager said all of the pork for the residents’ meals had disappeared.

The manager said items were going unaccounted for “more often and in larger quantities”, and a camera was set up facing the fridge.

Video footage showed the back of Manu as he appeared to put “several items into a black bin bag”.

“It was not possible to see what [he] was taking, but what had gone missing was enough to feed 20 to 30
people,” the SSSC report said.

Manu initially denied taking anything, but when told there was recorded camera footage he admitted to taking the juice on shift.

While giving evidence to the panel, Manu accepted that he had taken the turkey escalopes out of the fridge and that this was a “lapse in judgement”.

Under SSSC panel questioning, a colleague later confirmed that the missing turkey escalopes would have had a “huge impact” on the care home residents.

“A number of residents had dementia, and the menu was put up on a board,” the report said.

“Any change to the menu caused confusion and meant that the staff had to carefully explain and inform residents of the changes. Missing food and resultant menu changes would also have had a nutritional impact on the balance of the meals.”

In addition to a 36-month warning, Manu must provide the SSSC with a written account reflecting on his “dishonest behaviour” and he must reassure the panel that the behaviour won’t be repeated.