Social worker guilty of misconduct over murder girl

Judyth Kenworthy was warned that Sanam Navsarka had a bruise on her head and had been locked in a cupboard but she did not act. In neglecting to do so, she was found to have put at risk the two-year-old, who died shortly afterwards in the wake of appalling mistreatment.

The social worker denied having been told about the cupboard incident but a General Social Care Council committee in London found this to be untrue.

She admitted failing to pass on warnings about the bruise on the child's head, however, saying she had been "extremely busy" at the time and had dismissed the information as "tittle tattle".

Detailing why her actions amounted to misconduct, the committee said: "The registrant was not trustworthy in her dealings with the police, concealing relevant information in a criminal investigation...

"She did not communicate the information given to her to anyone within social services, nor was she accurate and straightforward in her dealings with the police... It follows from the above failings the registrant was neither reliable nor dependable."

Mrs Kenworthy should not have dismissed a concern about a child without investigation, they said. "The registrant put others at risk and such behaviour undermines public trust and confidence in the social care services," they added.

"The registrant's practices did not meet the standards required of a social worker. At the very least she did not work in a safe and effective way. The public expect social care workers to be trustworthy, and work to relevant standards. Confidence in the social care services would be undermined if they do not."

Mrs Kenworthy has acknowledged that she made a mistake in not acting on concerns about Sanam, of Huddersfield, who died on May 8, 2008 after suffering more than 100 injuries.

Explaining why she had failed to pass on information about the bruise, she told the panel yesterday: "The only thing I can say is, I was extremely busy. I was trying to get to somewhere else, to go to an important meeting, and it was just one of those situations where it took over and that just didn't register as being vitally important and that was the mistake I made." She added that she had never worked with children before.

Sanam's mother's partner, Subhan Anwar, was jailed for a minimum of 23 years for her murder, while her mother, Zahbeena Navsarka, was jailed for nine years for manslaughter. Mrs Kenworthy, a former family placement officer at Kirklees Council, was warned about the child on May 1 2008 by Jacqueline Peel, who ran a home for vulnerable people.

Mrs Peel was alerted to the toddler's injury when the girl's aunt brought her to stay at the home and told investigators the injury was discussed with Mrs Kenworthy at the end of a meeting about a different resident.

Mrs Kenworthy agreed that, as a result of her actions, no measures were taken to safeguard Sanam and admitted withholding information when she gave a statement to police. The panel will now decide what sanction Mrs Kenworthy should face.

The trial of Navsarka and Anwar at Bradford Crown Court in 2009 heard Sanam, who had fractures to all four limbs, died after fatty deposits from her broken thigh bones entered her bloodstream. Her hand prints and blood stains were found inside cupboards where she had been put as a punishment.

A metal pole was used to shatter Sanam's leg and she was bruised and battered repeatedly in the four weeks before her death.