Carer who stole from pensioner struck off

The General Social Care Council said that Peter Tennant, who worked for Sheffield Council from August 2007 to March 2009, committed a "gross breach of trust over a prolonged period" which was "fundamentally incompatible" with his continuing to be a registered social worker.

The 54-year-old, from Long Eaton in Derbyshire, was handed a two-and-a-half year prison term at Sheffield Crown Court in May this year after admitting stealing the money from Lorraine Rennie, 65.

Miss Rennie, who had suffered three strokes, was left unable to pay for food, housing and care fees and had to borrow money from staff at the sheltered housing complex where she lived because of Tennant's thieving.

He stole more than 19,000 from her bank account between January 2008 and February 2009, after being named as a signatory on the account for emergencies.

At the General Social Care Council hearing, which was held in London without Tennant being present, members heard that he was in a position of trust towards a "highly vulnerable, significantly disabled elderly woman".

In a ruling, the hearing committee said: "Removal was the only sanction that was proportionate to the misconduct because it involved direct theft from the service user, was in breach of a position of trust, was of a high total value, was persistent, repeated and organised, adversely affected the highly vulnerable service user and impacted on the social work profession."

The committee added that Tennant's behaviour was "a serious departure from the standards required of a registered social worker".