Social worker sold adopted baby’s details

A SOCIAL worker sold the address of an adopted child to her birth mother to pay for a holiday to the Dominican Republic, a court has heard.

Androulla Farr, 50, contacted the “vulnerable” drug addict mother in 2006 and offered to hand over the details in exchange for £2,000.

The mother was “desperate” to know the information and agreed to pay – with Farr passing it to her on a piece of paper at a cafe. The mother later wrote a letter to her daughter, telling her that she would be visiting the area where the girl lived.

The court heard the girl’s adopted family were so concerned that they moved to a different area of the country.

Farr admitted a charge under the Public Bodies Corrupt Practices Act 1889, and walked free from Bristol Crown Court after being sentenced to 16 months in prison, suspended for 18 months. She was also ordered to carry out 250 hours of unpaid work.

“You established a very close working relationship with the girl’s mother,” Judge William Hart said. “She was a vulnerable person because of her drug problems.”

The judge added: “One can

‘She was a vulnerable person because of her drug problems’

almost understand it if you had done it out of a sense of kindness to her, even if it was misplaced, but to do it for cash payment is low indeed.”

Farr left her job as a community family support worker in 2006 and has since worked her way up through a company from carer to deputy manager. She has been suspended from that role since her arrest in 2015.