Bungling care worker struck off

John Maude failed in his duty to protect the children in the face of repeated concerns from police, colleagues and other agencies.

His negligence came to light when the youngest of the children died in an unconnected incident and a review was automatically triggered.

A tribunal heard how Maude let the father stay in the family home and have unsupervised contact with the children when he was subject to a court order banning him from going within 100 yards of the property. He took no action after police reported the father had attacked his wife with a crowbar.

Maude also failed to make any records about the family and also did not document other cases.

He was employed by Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council, and was in charge of the family's case between November 2005 and December 2007.

Maude had denied most of the charges but was found guilty by the tribunal which yesterday ruled he should be struck off.

Panel chairman Ian Daines said public confidence in the social worker profession would decline if Mr Maude was allowed to continue working, adding:

"The highest sanction is proportionate due to the length of time this occurred and left services users unprotected."