Elderly victim of 'cruel' carer can't be left alone after being 'traumatised'

An 81-year-old whose "cruel" carer was jailed after being caught on camera abusing her cannot be left alone because she is "traumatised," her daughter has said.

Louise Harris was given a three-month sentence after CCTV filmed her drunkenly screaming "I hope you die in your sleep... you horrible cow" at Elizabeth Anne Shipton in Pontardawe, Neath Port Talbot.

Elizabeth's daughter Tracy Faram Shipton called Harris's actions "horrific" and said her sentence for ill treatment and criminal damage was "laughable".

Despite this, the family is unable to appeal against it as, under the unduly lenient sentence scheme, the attorney general can only refer specific qualifying crimes to the Court of Appeal.

Harris, 42, was filmed on the family's video surveillance system, which was originally installed so Tracy and her brother could monitor their late father John in case he fell while caring for Elizabeth.

She had originally been charged with attempted robbery, a crime that qualifies for appeal, but the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) dropped that charge.

"Mum can't be left on her own at all now," Tracy added.

A CPS spokesman said: "We keep all cases under review and on this occasion concluded that our legal test was not met, as there was insufficient evidence to prosecute the defendant with attempted robbery and theft.

"We have written to the victim to explain our decision in more detail."

Elizabeth's husband John died in December 2025 after having a stroke. The pair had been together since she was 16 years old.

After that, the family decided to keep the cameras as Tracy was not able to take on the responsibility of looking after her mother full-time "on my own", and her brother has a full-time job, so they wanted to ensure Elizabeth was OK in her home.

Tracy asked for recommendations for private care companies on Facebook and Harris - a former neighbour she had known for years - replied saying: "Have you forgotten about me? I'm a carer."

Having known her for so long, Tracy felt she could trust her.

Harris came for a trial shift that Tracy said was going "absolutely brilliantly" until she left after about an hour.

Harris, a recovering alcoholic, drank a bottle of vodka she found in the fridge and ripped apart Elizabeth's knitting after Tracy had told her it was "the only thing helping my mother through the grief".

Harris's rage appeared to be sparked by Elizabeth accidentally pressing her emergency alarm, which triggered a phone call to a crisis response helpline.

The court heard at one point, she went into the kitchen and waved a large kitchen knife around while trashing the property.

Tracy was horrified when she accessed the security system to check how things were going, and saw Harris abusing her mum.

"The police had to break the door down," she said.

Tracy said being unable to appeal against Harris's sentence - of which she will spend 40% locked up before being released - had left them "deflated".

"I can't get my head around it. For her to be serving just over a month is unbelievable.

"We've been living this day in, day out."