A senior social worker alerted a domestic violence perpetrator to the whereabouts of his pregnant victim, weeks after she jumped out of a bedroom window when he threatened to pour boiling oil over her.
Kevin Sinclair, a child protection officer for Sefton council in Merseyside, was struck off for what a tribunal called “disgraceful” and “deplorable” conduct that put the victim at serious risk of further harm.
Sinclair was investigating a woman’s complaint that she had been violently attacked when he interviewed her then partner in June 2015, a tribunal in London heard.
The victim, who was pregnant with her abuser’s child, had the imprint of the sole of a trainer on her right cheek and bruising to her arms after one attack. In another assault, the abuser heated up oil in a pan and threatened to pour it on the woman, forcing her to flee the house through a bedroom window.
Sinclair “could not have failed to grasp the seriousness” of the situation when he interviewed the suspect on 11 June 2015, according to the Health and Care Professions Tribunal Service (HCPTS).
In the meeting, Sinclair was heard referring to the victim as a pathological liar – saying: “You can’t trust a word she says” and that she “comes out with a load of Jackanory”.
Sinclair, who was being secretly recorded by the abuser, said the victim had “some sort of personality disorder” and that “she’s not a bad looking girl/plenty more fish in the sea”.
He also put the victim “at an increased risk of further domestic violence”, the tribunal found, when he told the abuser the precise time and place she would be meeting with social workers, referring to a “chance meeting in the lift”.
The abuser, who was later convicted for the assault, was also advised by Sinclair how to breach his bail conditions undetected.
The social worker warned him that police would be able to trace any text messages and gave him “inappropriate advice” about shaving his head to avoid being caught in drug tests, the tribunal heard.
The tribunal heard that Sinclair said: “That’s confidential” and “I should not be telling you this” at various points throughout the meeting with the abuser. When confronted by his managers with the secret recording, Sinclair did not deny it was him but simply hung his head.
In its findings, published on the HCPTS website, the tribunal said: “The panel concluded that the misconduct was so serious and so disgraceful in this case that it was not capable of being remediated.
“The panel therefore concluded that a striking off order was the only proportionate sanction and one that would protect the public, uphold public confidence in the social work profession and in the regulatory process.”
The tribunal said Sinclair’s “whole approach to the meeting demonstrated a complete disregard for the potential risks” to the victim.
It said Sinclair had been qualified for three years, had been a senior member of the child protection team and that he had showed “a remarkable lack of professional judgment, a failure to respect principles of confidentiality, a failure to respect professional boundaries”.
It added: “There can be no explanation for his actions, which was deplorable conduct that fell seriously short of the required standards.”
A Sefton council spokesman said Sinclair no longer works for the local authority.
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