‘Drunk’ social worker admonished by GSCC

A social worker who attended court hearings smelling of alcohol has been formally admonished for misconduct.

Fiona Crawford was found to have worked as a children’s guardian for Cafcass in Peterborough between 2005 and 2007 while under the influence of drink.

On one occasion in August 2007 Crawford arrived late at court and was described as “not making sense and making odd comments”, according to statements read to a General Social Care Council conduct committee.

One witness said that although she had not noticed a smell of alcohol on Crawford in a morning session at court in April 2007, she noticed a smell after lunch.

Another described Crawford as “shaky”, while her line manager, Ann Butler, said Crawford’s work was “chaotic” and her reports were “of poor standard and disorganised”.

Crawford, who resigned from her post, admitted drinking up to four glasses of wine in the evening up to three times a week.

Giving evidence at a hearing in London, she said it was “obviously too much” and had now addressed this.

The committee found that drink had impacted on the performance of Crawford, who now works for Coventry Council, although she had not drunk alcohol during the day.

It said it was “not acceptable to attend court smelling of alcohol” and it called into question her reliability and dependability, but took into account the fact that she regretted her behaviour and there had been no repetition of the misconduct.

The committee issued an admonishment for the maximum period of five years.

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