Concern over criminals applying for care roles
PAEDOPHILES, killers and drug dealers were among 12,000 ex-criminals who applied for jobs as carers in the last year.
But with recruitment difficulties and low wages in the care sector, it is not known how many were still hired by employers so desperate for staff.
Details from the government’s Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) also revealed thousands of these would-be carers were found to have committed theft-related offences, including people who had stolen from their employers.
Last year, 11,900 applications revealed criminal histories amounting to 60,906 offences, either with court convictions, cautions or warnings.
The litany of criminals applying for care worker jobs also included people with convictions for fraud, violence and sexual offences.
One had a conviction for attempted murder, nine had been found guilty of manslaughter and another 27 had killed someone while driving dangerously, carelessly or recklessly.
The details of an applicant’s criminal past are passed on to the prospective employer, who then decides whether or not to proceed.
Carers could work in a variety of situations such as a care home or working as a home help, where they would often have unsupervised access to vulnerable, elderly clients.
The criminal records are all held by DBS, which
trawls the Police National Computer for offences committed by people applying for jobs where they have access to children or vulnerable people.
Among other offences disclosed about prospective carers last year were around 5,000 assaults – of which more than 700 were on the police – 3,343 burglaries and 689 thefts by an employee.
The database also revealed three cases of bigamy, five incidents of revenge porn and 10 cases of sexual assaults on children.
As well as hundreds of would-be carers who had drug convictions, there were 54 cases of dealing in heroin and 84 for peddling cocaine. Two had a record for forging prescriptions for medicines.
The DBS also revealed six rape convictions, seven blackmail cases, five with a criminal record for kidnap, nine with cruelty convictions relating to animals, six with cruelty offences relating to the care of children and 31 who had been convicted or cautioned for exposing themselves.
In 2017, carer Abosede Adeyinka was jailed for 21 years for the attempted murder of 90-year-old Pamela Batten, who she hit on the head with a hammer and stabbed in the neck. It came to light that Adeyinka, 53, was employed despite her agency knowing she had previous convictions.
Pamela’s son Sammy said after the case: “Everyone’s got to have a job, but you can’t put a fox in charge of the hen house.what’s the point of vetting someone if you ignore the results?”
Dennis Reed, of elderly campaign group Silver Voices, said: “These statistics are horrifying. Given the number of past offenders found out by the system many more must be slipping through the net.
“Physical, sexual and financial abuse of vulnerable older people goes largely unreported and can be difficult to prove, particularly if dementia is involved. Also, a major element of the social care crisis is that it is a low-paid, low esteemed, and unqualified sector, which makes it easy to access for those with ulterior motives”
Dr Suzanne Smith, from the DBS, said: “Our role is to help employers make safer recruitment decisions. Irrespective of the information revealed on a DBS check, the decision to employ someone ultimately rests with the employer.”