WA aged care worker pleads guilty to murder of resident

A former aged care worker is facing a lifetime in jail after pleading guilty yesterday to the murder of a resident under his care.

Jacob Anthony Hoysted appeared via video link from Casuarina Prison at Western Australia's Stirling Gardens Magistrates Court last Wednesday, where he pleaded guilty to the murder of Monica Stockdale.

Mr Hoysted admitted to strangling 70-year-old Ms Stockdale on November 28, 2022, who was an aged care resident at the Baptistcare Bethel facility in Albany, Western Australia's Great Southern region.

Almost a month after Ms Stockdale's death, the 20-year-old was charged on Christmas Eve following a post-mortem examination by the police.

Mr Hoysted, who was 19 at the time, had been employed as a carer at the Baptistcare Bethel facility for close to a year prior to the murder.

In response to the incident, Ms Stockdale's family has urged the federal government to fast-track an aged care worker screening process, one of the 2018 Royal Commission into Aged Care recommendations.

On Tuesday, the government pledged $59.5m over five years to establish a National Worker Registration Scheme to screen aged care workers and ensure accountability for any misconduct.

The scheme is intended to protect older Australians by preventing people unsuitable for the job from working in the industry.

The state prosecutor moved to hear the sentencing to Perth instead of Albany, which was not opposed by Mr Hoysted's defence.

The sentencing hearing was also postponed to October 31 to allow pre-sentence reports to be compiled.

No information regarding the offender's offense or personal history was disclosed, and he was once again ordered to remain in custody until his sentencing hearing in October at the WA Supreme Court.