KIRKLEES Council has insisted that suspended social worker Judyth Kenworthy has worked with children before, despite her evidence to the contrary.
It comes as a damning report revealed Mrs Kenworthy “sought to distance herself from blame” by concealing a “strong indicator of abuse”.
The General Social Care Council found the Kirklees Council social worker had made a “conscious decision” to omit key evidence from police investigating the murder of two-year-old Sanam Navsarka.
And despite the Family Placement Officer telling the conduct hearing that she had never worked with children, Kirklees Council has said that was not the case.
A spokesman said: “We can confirm that she had experience of working with children and young people.”
However, they refused to be drawn on whether Mrs Kenworthy was paid during her initial suspension, saying: “The local authority is unable to comment on personal and individual matters relating to specific members of staff.”
Mrs Kenworthy had not returned to her detached home in Shepley yesterday.
Little Sanam died on May 8, 2008, after suffering more than 100 injuries. Sanam’s mother’s partner, Subhan Anwar, was jailed for a minimum of 23 years for her murder, while her mother, Zahbeena Navsarka, was jailed for nine years for manslaughter.
During the conduct hearing which saw Mrs Kenworthy suspended for two years, the committee “found limited evidence of remorse, insight and victim empathy”.
On May 1, 2008, social worker Mrs Kenworthy was told by Jacqueline Peel, who ran a home for vulnerable people, that Sanam had been locked in a cupboard, but in failing to pass the concerns on no measures taken to safeguard Sanam were put in place.
The General Social Care Council findings include;
The Committee was of the opinion that Mrs Kenworthy has sought to minimise what she was told because she was aware of the gravity of the information that Sanam had been locked in a cupboard.
The Committee was of the view that the information regarding a bump on Sanam’s forehead was serious but made far worse by the report of the child being locked in a cupboard.
