Social worker struck off for stealing £4,000 from service user

A social worker has been struck off for stealing more than £4,000 from a service user with mental incapacity.

Martha Wright, 33, of Manchester, stole the money when she was a social worker in Trafford Council’s health and disability team, a General Social Care Council conduct committee was told this week.

Wright was convicted in November 2007 of stealing £4,747 over nine months from an adult service user known as Ms A. The social worker was given a suspended jail sentence and 240 hours’ community service.

Abused trust

The GSCC committee said Wright had “significantly abused her position of trust ” and had caused direct harm to a particularly vulnerable service user who was left with “virtually nothing” in her bank account.

Wright’s behaviour was “fundamentally incompatible” with continuing to be a registered social worker, it found.

Wright was removed from the register with immediate effect. She has the right of appeal to the Care Standards Tribunal.