A FORMER senior care worker who assaulted an autistic teenager by dragging him by the ankles has been ordered to pay his victim �150 compensation.

Tony Rust - who was working at the Willow Lodge care home in Gorefield at the time of the incident - was also ordered to perform 60 hours of unpaid work when sentenced by Fenland magistrates.

The court heard how the agitated youngster had earlier grabbed two female members of staff, but had let go when asked.

Rust grabbed the 19-year-old’s ankles and pulled him back to his room. Rust later asked colleagues to keep his actions a secret, said prosecutor John Goodier – but a colleague reported the matter.

At an earlier hearing 52-year-old Rust, of Pyecroft Lane, Walpole St Peter, had admitted assault. The teenager suffered some bruising and roughened skin on his back.

Mitigating, Laura Kenyon said: “He accepts he should not have done what he did, it was a tense situation. He is deeply remorseful.”

Rust denied asking colleagues to keep his behaviour quiet.

After the incident Rust resigned from his job and is currently working as a lorry driver. He must also pay �105 court costs.