A SCOTS social worker has been issued a warning after failing to tell his bosses of his domestic abuse charges against his former partner.
Calvin Gray was convicted of a string of abusive actions to his then-partner between November 2020 and June 2021 during his employment by Avenue Care Services in Edinburgh.
The social care officer was found to have made attempts to restrict former partner Emerald Jeffrey from seeing friends, checking her mobile phone repeatedly and accusing her of speaking to other men.
The 26-year-old also repeatedly sent Emerald abusive emails and, after being warned not to make any further contact with her, sent further unwanted emails and a letter.
Gray, from Cairneyhill, Fife, was convicted of the charges at Falkirk Sheriff Court, but avoided a jail sentence after the court heard that an injury that ended his promising football career had left him with both physical and mental “issues”.
Gray who had previously trained with Valencia and Villarreal as well as Dunfermline FC, however then failed to inform his employer of his conviction.
In addition to this, Gray was also found to have made attempts to hide his conviction after it was published by a newspaper.
Gray’s actions led to a hearing of care watchdog the Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC), who stated that his fitness to practice was impaired.
The SSSC’s full report read: “You concealed the reason for attending court from your employer and only informed them of the conviction after it was reported in the paper.
“By failing to disclose full information about your charge to your employer, you were dishonest and this meant that your employer was unable to carry out a risk assessment to assess the risk you posed to the vulnerable people you work with.
“The conviction is serious and the behaviour leading to the conviction is a pattern of emotionally abusive behaviour towards your partner over a period of seven months.
“The dishonesty in concealing your charge information from your employer is also serious. The dishonesty was not prolonged because you did inform them but only after an article had been published in the newspaper.”
Gray was found to have shown little insight to his actions, with the panel stating: “You have shown limited insight into the impact of your behaviour on the victim and how your conviction could affect the trust placed in you to care for vulnerable people and we have concerns that this behaviour may be repeated.
“You acknowledge and apologise for not being open and honest with your employer.”
“The main behaviour occurred outside of work but demonstrates a pattern of emotionally abusive behaviours.
“Your actions in concealing the charge information from your employer were deliberate.
“Your behaviour exposed your ex-partner to a serious risk of emotional harm factors in your favour.”
The SSSC continued: “Social services workers are expected to uphold the law and must not behave in a way, while inside or outside of work, that would call into question their suitability to work with vulnerable people.
“You have been convicted of an offence that is likely to have caused your ex-partner emotional harm.
“Your behaviour suggests an issue with your values and could cause people who use services to lose trust in you.
“Social service workers should be truthful, open, honest and trustworthy.
“You concealed the reason for attending court from your employer and only informed them of the conviction after it was reported in the paper.
“The conviction is serious and the behaviour leading to the conviction is a pattern of emotionally abusive behaviour towards your partner over a period of seven months.”
The panel agreed that the appropriate sanction was to give Gray a warning for 24 months with conditions imposed.
They stated: “You have no previous convictions. You have shown remorse for concealing the charge information from your employer.
“There have been no further concerns about you or your practice and your employer has provided a good reference. You co-operated fully with the SSSC investigation.”
