Ban for careworker who let 15-year-old drink and drive car

A CHILDCARE worker who bought drink for a 15-year-old and let him drive through a busy town centre has been banned from working with children for three years.

George Gillon, 53, was found guilty of a string of offences that put children in his care "at risk" after a two-day misconduct hearing.

While working at a children's residential home in Ayrshire, Mr Gillon bought alcohol for an underage care user, let him drive a car through Irvine, made "inappropriate comments of a sexual nature", and took two children in care - one aged 14, and one, 15 - to his own home.

The charges amounted to a serious breach of the Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) code of conduct rules. Mr Gillon has now been struck off the social service workers register for bringing the profession into disrepute.

A SSSC sub-committee misconduct hearing in Dundee heard that Mr Gillon was especially popular with one 15-year-old boy because he bought him alcohol and allowed him behind the wheel of his work car. Elise Pitt, a colleague at independent residential carers Spark of Genius, told how one 15-year-old boy - named in court as CC - lifted the lid on some of Mr Gillon's conduct.

She said: "I was driving CC to the train station and he was telling me about George. The first thing he disclosed was that George had bought him alcohol after telling him he couldn't get alcohol in his area.

"The young person's case file clearly stated that he had previous issues with alcohol and George definitely knew about that.

"He also said George let him drive a company car but that he had found it quite difficult. He had been allowed to drive the car through a built-up area in Irvine.

"CC had been moved to the unit because of the amount of negative influences in his life in his local area, including his friends and girlfriend, but during his settling-in period, George allowed unauthorised and unsupervised contact with his girlfriend."

Mr Gillon was found guilty of seven misconduct charges, including two counts of taking youngsters to his own home, making inappropriate comments of a sexual nature, and insulting a colleague in front of a mother.

SSSC conduct case officer, solicitor Nicola Elliott said that Mr Gillon had failed to protect the children in his care.

Miss Elliott said: "Buying alcohol for service users and letting them drive a car illegally definitely brings into question his honesty and ability to uphold public trust and confidence in social services." SSSC conduct sub-committee chair, James Aitken, ruled that Gillon should be removed from the social service workers register.

He said: "We considered the registrant's acts to be at the upper-end of the scale of seriousness."

Mr Gillon, who was sacked on 1 July 2010, has 14 days to appeal the SSSC decision.