Mt Ousley carer Kerrie Ann Barry ‘regrets not turning off the hose’ that allegedly injured a disabled man

An Illawarra carer said she regrets not turning the pressure-hose off but continues to deny allegations she intentionally injured a disabled man.

Kerrie Ann Barry, 42, faced Wollongong Local Court for the first time on January 7, 2020. Picture: Madeline Crittenden.

An Illawarra carer said she regrets “not turning the pressure-hose off” but continues to deny allegations she intentionally injured a disabled man at a Mt Ousley group home in 2019.

Kerrie Ann Barry, 43, faced Wollongong Local Court on Friday for hearing after pleading not-guilty to a charge of assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

Barry had been working as a permanent staff member at the Mt Ousley branch of Aruma Disability Service, formerly known as House With No Steps, on September 1, 2019, when a non-verbal autistic member of the house had an episode and defecated in the outdoor area of the home.

The 37-year-old man, who has a number of disabilities including autism and developmental delay, woke up in a “heightened state of agitation” and spread his faeces around the backyard.

Barry allegedly went to clean the mess with a high-pressured water cleaner- known as a Gurni, claiming he had calmed down and was standing in a separate area of the backyard away from her.

Multiple witnesses told the court the victim was noise-sensitive and needed one-on-one care, which Barry allegedly did not provide as the other carer had left the house and she had two other clients in her care.

The victim’s behaviour support plan outlined that he could often become “elevated” with no trigger.

Kerrie Ann Barry, 43, faced Wollongong Local Court for hearing on Friday. Picture: Madeline Crittenden

Witness Tanya Parry told the court the victim often runs around the unit, bangs his head, falls to the floor and can snatch at people when in that state.

“There’s been multiple times when he’s defecated and spread his faeces around,” she said.

Ms Parry said she and other staff members had been told not to use the high-pressure hose in front of the victim at multiple team meetings, and to ensure he was inside when it was being used.

Team Leader at Aruma, Helen Patterson, also told the court the Gurni was not to be used around the victim.

“It was discussed at a team meeting that it shouldn’t be used around clients, and the victim is noise-sensitive so we wouldn’t use it around him,” she told the court.

Despite knowing these factors, Barry allegedly used the hose in the presence of the victim to clean his faeces off the furniture and concrete in the backyard.

When she wasn’t looking, the man ran towards her allegedly shocking Barry into keeping the hose turned on for another four seconds while aimed at him.

“The Gurni is loud, in the time I started cleaning he came over to where I was and ran into it,” Barry told the court.

“I was startled, he was jumping and bouncing around.”

While she denies ever purposely spraying the hose and claims the victim walked into the stream of water, Barry said she regrets not stopping it immediately.

“I regret it … it was only like four seconds I regret,” she said.

“It just kind of happened and I let go of it and I noticed there was a red mark but it wasn’t that bad.”

The spray resulted in three different injuries on the man’s body, with doctors advising the Aruma carers to keep applying cold water as they appeared as burns.

An investigation was only launched into the incident after the man’s family reported the injuries to Wollongong Police.

Following inquiries Barry was arrested and subsequently stood down from Aruma Disability Services.

She will return to court for judgment next month.