By Natalie Valios

A social worker sacked for plotting to lure her husband to his death claimed she was unfairly dismissed at an industrial tribunal last week.

Lynda Barnes, a child protection worker with Avon County Council, was given a two-year suspended sentence at Bristol Crown Court last March after pleading guilty to conspiracy to murder.

She admitted asking her brother Michael Feltham to hire a hit man to murder her former husband.

Barnes, who had worked for Avon social services department since 1989, was moved to a job with no client contact after being charged with the offence in July 1993.

A council disciplinary panel concluded that she should be dismissed in May 1995, and an appeal panel upheld the decision.

Barnes' counsel told the tribunal that the offence did not involve child abuse and so should not mean automatic dismissal. And the council had failed in its promise to make its own investigations into Barnes' case.

Former social work colleague Dermot McCann said Barnes' conviction did not affect her competence as a social worker, and she could use her experience as a victim of domestic violence positively in her profession.

The tribunal bench reserved judgment until a later date.