Actor films mother’s ‘distressing’ arrest for taking grandmother, 97, out of care home before lockdown

Police said the situation was ‘distressing and emotional for everyone’

A former Coronation Street actor filmed events as her mother was arrested for trying to take her elderly grandmother out of a care home before lockdown.  

Leandra Ashton posted video footage showing Ylenia Angeli handcuffed in the back of a police car during the incident in Market Weighton, East Riding of Yorkshire.  

Ms Angeli, 73, tried to take her 97-year-old mother, who has dementia, home to care for her because her condition has “deteriorated” since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.  

In one of two video clips posted on Facebook, Ms Ashton can be heard saying: “So let’s just make this very clear. My 97-year-old nan here, who we have taken from the care home because we haven’t seen her for nine months, is now being taken back by force to her care home.  

“My mother has been arrested, my mother is in the back of a car here. She is a fully qualified nurse who is wishing to care for her own mother. And here we have an incredible use of police time to take my 97-year-old grandmother back into a care home where she is deteriorating.”

An elderly woman is then filmed sitting in the front passenger seat of a car with her seatbelt still fastened as the sobbing actress adds: “Nan, I love you and we are going to fight for you.”  

A police officer can be heard telling Ms Ashton her mother would be taken to a police station in Hull; however Humberside Police later confirmed she was de-arrested and allowed to return home.  

Ms Ashton, who played Saskia Larson in the popular soap, refused to stop filming “because everyone needs to how ridiculous this situation is”.  

She later added on Facebook: “Yesterday my 73-year-old mum pushed into the care home to hug my 97-year-old grandma who has dementia. She then quietly wheeled her out.  

“My mum, is a trained nurse and wishes to care for my nan at home.  

“We only have power of attorney for my nan’s finances. Not for her wellbeing. Before lockdown we could overcome this by visiting my nan regularly. Now we can’t.  

“My mum was arrested because she refused to take my nan back to the care home.  

‘Frail and vulnerable’: Leandra Ashton’s grandmother was filmed in the passenger seat (Leandra Ashton/Facebook/screen grab)

“It feels like we are living in the worst Kafka-esque nightmare. People in masks coming to take your relative away from you.”  

Ms Ashton said rules sometimes need “challenging and changing” as she called for relatives to be given key worker status to allow them to go into their relative’s bedroom to visit, feed and care for them.  

She said the police officers involved were “as kind as they could be” and thanked them for “trying their best and de-arresting my mum so we could go home together”.  

Assistant Chief Constable Chris Noble, of Humberside Police, said in a statement: “We responded to a report of an assault at a care home in Market Weighton in East Yorkshire at 11.15am, Tuesday 3 November.  

“The care home had also reported that a woman who they were legally responsible for had been taken from the home by her daughter.  

“Officers found both women along with a third woman nearby and informed them that they would need to return the lady to the home, as is their legal duty to do so.  

“The situation was distressing and emotional for everyone and the woman did not want her mother to be returned to the care home staff.  

“The officer in attendance had to ensure that everyone was safe, and in particular the 97-year-old lady who was frail and vulnerable, and so made the decision to briefly restrain the 73-year-old woman until the situation was calm and under control.  

“Officers then returned the elderly lady to the home.  

“The 73-year-old lady was then immediately unrestrained, de-arrested and allowed to return home with her daughter.  

“We understand that this is an emotional and difficult situation for all those involved.  We sympathise with all families who are in this position and will continue to provide whatever support we can to both parties.”