A SCOTS stalker who caused fear and alarm to her victim by telling funeral directors the woman had died has been given a warning by the social care regulator.
Nursery worker Emma Johnston terrorised her ex’s mum and sister for over a year between February 2020 and March of 2021.
While employed at Hazlehead Primary School Nursery in Aberdeen, Johnston contacted funeral and crematorium services pretending one of the victims had died.
The woman, aged 71, suffered from leukaemia and was shocked to receive calls and letters from funeral directors informing her of her apparent death.
During the 13-month period Johnston also contacted Police Scotland and filed false reports of domestic abuse.
And contacted one victim’s employer claiming she had committed a criminal offence.
The 50-year-old pled guilty to charges of causing fear or alarm by stalking at Aberdeen Sheriff Court in July last year.
The Crown Office initially claimed Johnston contacted the Dignitas Euthanasia Service pretending to be the elderly woman.
However, these charges were later removed.
Parents were shocked after Johnston returned back to work at Hazlehead Primary School on the same day she made her plea.
Johnston was warned not to make any further contact with the women or she would face jail time.
The Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) today (WED) decided to issue the carer with a warning on her registration for a period of three years.
The SSSC also noted that Johnston’s insight into the incident was “limited”.
In making their decision, they said: “You were convicted of engaging in a course of conduct which caused fear and alarm to two members of the public over a period of approximately 13 months.
“Your behaviour showed a disregard for the wellbeing of others, for the law and for the time and resources of the organisations that you contacted under false pretences.
“Your behaviour was serious. It occurred outside of your employment after the [information redacted].
“We note there was no harm to any service users.
“You have made some admissions but you have largely focussed on what had been done to you and how you have been treated, rather than looking at the impact your behaviour had on others.
“Given the circumstances of your convictions, we have considered that the risk of repetition is low as you no longer have contact with [information redacted].
“Given the low risk of repetition, it is unlikely that you present an ongoing risk to the public. However, your page three of four convictions reflected badly on the profession.
“The public should be able to expect that a social service worker entrusted to care for children in a nursery setting would adhere to the law and not cause fear or alarm to members of the public.
“A finding of current impairment is necessary to reaffirm the clear standards of professional conduct and uphold public confidence in the profession.
Making their decision they continued: “After referring to our Decisions Guidance, we decided the appropriate sanction is to place a warning on your registration for a period of three years.
“We considered that a warning would adequately mark the behaviour as unacceptable and that it should not happen again.”
Referring to Johnston’s victims as AA and BB, the full charges the SSSC found proved stated: “You did between 1 February 2020 and 8 March 2021 engage in a course of conduct which caused AA fear or alarm.
“…You did submit online forms in the name of AA to Dignity Funeral Services, Pure Cremation Services, Co-operative Funeral Services, Mark Shaw Funeral Services, Aberdeen City Council and the Police Service of Scotland and you did this in an attempt to have the aforesaid organisations make contact with AA, in said contact to Dignity Funeral Services, Mark Shaw Funeral Services, Co-operative Funeral Services and Pure Cremation Services, pretend that AA had died.
“[You did] contact Aberdeen City Council and make false claims in relation to her and did repeatedly make false reports of [information redacted] to Police Scotland in relation to her.
“You did between 1 February 2020 and 8 March 2021 engage in a course of conduct which caused AA fear or alarm in that you did submit online forms in the name of BB to Aberdeen City Council and the Police Service of Scotland in an attempt to have those organisations make contact with BB.
“[You did] send an email to her employer stating that she had committed a criminal offence, send a letter to [information redacted], Aberdeen, purporting to be from BB, containing false information, contact the DVLA stating that BB had obtained a car fraudulently using the name and address of another, repeatedly contact Police Scotland and make false allegations of criminality against her.”
