A Dundee social worker has been struck off for failing to protect colleagues from an offender who posed concerns of a sexual nature.
Elizabeth Howitt also spoke to an offender in an intimidating manner and was “bossy, abrupt and intimidating” to a colleague.
The Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) found her guilty of misconduct and removed her from the register.
Howitt, a social worker with the city council’s criminal justice services dealing with high-risk offenders, was found guilty of eight charges between September 2012 and February 2013.
She recorded a discussion with a colleague about an offender that was inappropriate because it disclosed details of a dispute that failed to show respect for a colleague.
She dismissed an offender’s concerns and spoke inappropriately. She repeatedly spoke to another offender in “an interrogative and forceful manner” without allowing him to reply.
She was unprofessional, challenging and intimidating, and this placed her and a colleague at risk of harm and caused the offender to say he no longer wanted her to be his social worker.
She also spoke to a colleague in a “bossy, abrupt and intimidating manner” and compared the colleague with other members of staff, implying the colleague was less competent.
She did not report relevant concerns about a third offender and his previous inappropriate attachments to members of staff.
Then, after a phone call, she did not pass on concerns of a sexual nature about him, which meant her colleagues could not protect themselves from potential harm.
She did not include in a risk assessment concerns about him sending text messages to a colleague that were possibly sexually motivated, and she did not report his breach of probation to the sheriff court.
The SSSC found misconduct proved because the first offender could have felt more isolated and at risk of harm.
The risk posed by the third offender was not accurately recorded which showed a disregard for the safety of others and could have placed them at serious risk.
The SSSC said she showed little insight into the potential consequences of her actions, and the allegations showed a pattern of poor behaviour.
There were numerous allegations about the manner in which she spoke to her colleagues and offenders.
The SSSC concluded that her behaviour was “fundamentally incompatible with registration as a social services worker”.