Two carers have been found guilty of negligence and given suspended sentences after a Stourbridge man choked on chicken bites.

Barbara Arch and Wendy Silvester were taking Andrew Strazdins, who suffered from cerebral palsy, on a break to the West Country.Mr Strazdins, aged 53, suffered from a condition called dysphagia which made it hard for him to swallow and his learning disability meant he tended to cram food into his mouth. He received 24 hour care at his bungalow in Stourbridge.

His care plan stated he should only be fed while sat in a chair at a table and that he should be given only mashed food and be supervised as he ate. He died after the carers gave him a bowl of 'roughly chopped' chicken bites as he sat on his own in the back of the car as it passed through North Devon.

Exeter Crown Court heard how he was on his way to a specially adapted caravan at a holiday park in Bude, Cornwall, in May 2014. The carers both knew of the strict rules about how he should be fed but Arch leaned back from the passenger seat while Silvester carried on driving, the court was told.

They only stopped when they saw him choking and paramedics found the two women crying and distraught by the side of the road after they failed to revive Mr Strazdins.

A risk assessment had warned specifically of the risk of choking and noted to possible consequence as 'Andrew may die'.

Arch, aged 58, of Smallshire Way, Stourbridge, and Silvester, aged 50, of Newland Court, Birmingham, admitted failing to discharge their duties as carers and were given six-month prison sentences, suspended for two years, by Judge Erik Salomonsen.

The judge told the pair: "The risk assessment underlined the possibility Mr Strazdins could choke and die. As his carers you willingly took responsibility for him and were trusted to take him away on holiday for his benefit.

"It is clear the chicken bites which he was fed were not mashed but were hard food. They were cut up but not mashed and he was left to feed himself.

"He choked and, despite your best efforts, he died. You were both distraught and I accept that the impact remains with you both."

Mr Strazdins was found with a 2cm by 2cm piece of chicken lodged in his throat and other pieces in his stomach and airways showed he had eaten at least four similar pieces before he died.