A “CRUEL” carer locked a man with learning difficulties in a car while she shopped with a co-worker in Clydebank.

The victim and another vulnerable adult were found so distressed they were “thrashing” in the back seat of the car as its windows steamed up.

Police called to the scene were forced to attempt breaking the front window with a baton to free the pair.

At Dumbarton Sheriff Court last Wednesday, Linda Kane was found guilty of wilfully neglecting the adult, who the Post will refer to as Mr B, on May 18, 2016, while co-accused Alba Mooney was also found guilty of the same treatment of Ms M, who was also in her care.

Kane, of Rampart Avenue, Knightswood, and Mooney, of Murroch Avenue in Dumbarton, denied leaving the adults – who both have learning difficulties – inside the car parked at Clyde Shopping Centre for around 45 minutes amounted to neglect.

The pair, who were employed by support service C-Change, claimed neither victim wished to enter the shops and it was “procedure” not to force them into an activity – but to lock the door ensuring they were unable to exit for their own safety.

Both women have since been disqualified from care for 10 years and are no longer with the company.

The court heard police officers were called to a report the two victims had been left inside the vehicle for up to 45 minutes and had become “distressed” at 5pm that day.

Constable Clare Curley told the court when they arrived the car’s windows had steamed up, the pair were “thrashing” around and making “groaning” like noises but were unresponsive when police attempted to question them.

Her partner, Constable John Miller, was using his baton in an attempt to smash the passenger seat window in order to free the pair when Kane and Mooney returned.

He told the court when he asked Mooney if it was “appropriate” to leave the victims in the car she responded with a shrug.

Constable Miller said: “It was the attitude, I couldn’t believe it. I think the words used were ‘what could possibly go wrong?’.”

Both Kane, 51, and Mooney, 60, claim Mr B and Ms M refused to get out of car and asked their carers to carry out shopping on their behalf while they listened to music inside the vehicle.

The carers said it would have caused more distress to go against the duo’s wishes and instead opted to make their purchases – zipped jackets for Ms M and a necklace and bracelet for Mr B.

But depute fiscal Martina McGuigan branded the purchases “unnecessary” and entered a heated exchange with Mooney over whether she should have allowed her client to stay in the car despite potential risks – such as being unable to escape in an emergency due to the child locks being activated.

Mooney argued Ms M could have opened the front doors despite being wheelchair bound.

She added: “I went back to check on them to ask if they wanted to go for a coffee. I tried to coax them out but it was ‘you go shopping’.

“When I went back to the car they were singing.”

Kane said Mr B – recently registered partially blind – would also have been able to escape from the back to the front of the car, claiming she had witnessed him do it in his own car “several times”.

Sheriff Maxwell Hendry was unconvinced and found the pair guilty.

Mr Reed, Kane’s defence solicitor, said: “She was very disappointed about the fact she was no longer able to work with [Mr B]. She had a great relationship with him.”

He added that Mr B was also upset that he was no longer allowed to spend time with Kane.

While Mooney’s defence agent said: “This incident has had a very significant effect on her. She’s unemployed and in receipt of benefits. She has a previous conviction but none are particularly relevant.”

Sheriff Hendry sentenced Mooney to 80 hours unpaid work in six months, while Kane was ordered to pay £500 for the “serious offence”.

He told the pair: “There’s no doubt at all that you left them on their own and that you did not go back to visit them. I’m satisfied that this amounts to a crime.”

A spokeswoman for C-Change added: “The organisation confirms its knowledge of this case and wishes to state that the actions of both workers were completely unacceptable and would never be supported by C-Change organisational policy under any circumstances.

“The appropriate authorities were immediately informed of the incident and C-Change fully co-operated with all parties concerned to ensure the actions of the workers were dealt with appropriately. In addition the regulatory bodies of social care provision were notified.

“Both employees were subject to the organisation’s disciplinary procedures and no longer work in the organisation.”