A mental heath patient was left with trainer imprints on his body after being given a severe beating by two members of staff at a private hospital, a court has heard.

The vulnerable man was allegedly attacked by Scott Geeson and Lelish Shercan at Cambian Fairview Hospital, in Colchester.

Ipswich Crown Court heard the support workers launched an alleged assault inside the 44-year-old’s room, meaning it was not captured on CCTV.

The pair were arrested after the man began suffering from chest pains and told other members of staff he had been assaulted, the jury was told.

Hospital examinations revealed the patient had suffered cracked ribs and a collapsed lung, as well as bruising to his face.

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Geeson and Shercan, both 27, deny causing the injuries, claiming the man was injured when he fell and hit a chair in a corridor outside his room but the prosecution said such an explanation was "frankly inconceivable".

The pair are jointly charged with causing grievous bodily harm and wilfully neglecting a person in their care.

Richard Kelly, prosecuting, said: “This man was ‘done in’.

“He was done in by somebody using severe force which then caused a multitude of injuries including broken ribs, a bruised rib cage and a partially collapsed lung.

“The question is who did that?

“The prosecution suggest that these two men, without a shadow of doubt, were the ones who ‘did him in’.

‘They did him in by kicking him and that is why those marks were on his body.

“They did that whilst they were in his bedroom and they were out of camera shot.”

Mr Kelly said the the two defendants tried “as best they could” to cover up their alleged attack by claiming the man had fallen and hit a chair.

Geeson and Shercan, both of Colchester, sat alongside each other in the dock as the case was opened yesterday.

Both the bespectacled defendants wore dark suits and a grey shirts in court and members of their families attended to support them.

No motive for the attack was put before the court.

The jury of seven men and five women, was told the patient had originally been admitted to the specialist hospital under the Mental Health Act.

Mr Kelly told the jury how the victim suffered with schizophrenia, borderline learning difficulties and autism and required supervision at all times.

The victim was an "obsessive" smoker and would become agitated if he was not able to have a cigarette and was known to lash out at staff who would sometimes be required to take him down to the floor in a controlled manner.

However the man had “very little physical strength” and after kicking out at staff he would apologise for his behaviour, the court heard.

Geeson and Shercan were in charge of the man during the period when he was injured, the jury was told.

The patient complained to staff he was suffering from chest pains and when staff removed his top they saw bruising to his torso as well as bruising next to his eye.

He was asked who had caused the injuries and he said ‘Lelish and Scott’ and repeated their names several times, said Mr Kelly.

When asked how he’d been injured, he said: “They kicked me in."

He was taken to Colchester General Hospital where he underwent CT scans and X-rays which revealed fractured ribs, a collapsed lung and bruising.

Whilst at the hospital the patient also told one of his trusted carers: "They did me in, Lelish and Scott."

Mr Kelly added: “In short, they both denied they had been in any way responsible for any of the injuries that had occurred.

“Each of them was to suggest the injury to the chest had been caused when he [the patient] had fallen onto a chair outside his room as they had taken him there."

CCTV shows the pair leading the patient to his room and him briefly sit down on the chair outside the door, but Mr Kelly said the incident contained in the footage was "nothing extraordinary at all”.

He said it was "frankly inconceivable" that the severe blunt force trauma injuries occurred when the patient had sat down onto the armchair.

An expert witness studied both defendants’ footwear and found patterns from both shoes and trainers could be seen on the patient’s ribcage.

Mr Kelly said: “We are not going to be able to identify the [exact] pair of shoes that have caused the marks.

“But there is a real suggestion in this case they the cross hatch markings match the toe of Mr Shercan’s shoe and the triangular pattern matches the sole of the shoe seized from Mr Geeson.

“That is no coincidence…. that the patternation appears to be consistent with the markings found on the body.

“The prosecution case is that these injuries cannot be inadvertently caused.”

The alleged attack is said to have taken place on June 24, 2016.

Geeson, of Winnock Road, Colchester, and Shercan, of Circus Square, Colchester, deny all charges against them. 

The trial continues...