Disgraced carer is son of scandal hit council boss

A SHAMED care worker jailed for theft is the son of a former council boss who quit over a children’s home abuse scandal, the Sunday Sun can reveal.

Simon Bennett stole more than £5,000 from a vulnerable lad with the mental age of a four-year-old.

Bennett, 39, was employed by Northumberland County Council as 21-year-old Matthew Benson’s key worker at a residential home in Bedlington.

But a court heard how he abused his position of trust to plunder almost every penny of Matthew’s savings by raiding his Lloyds Bank account to bankroll pub benders.

Bennett, who was jailed for 16 weeks by a judge at Newcastle Crown Court after admitting theft, is the son of the late John Bennett, the former director of social services for the county council.

Mr Bennett Snr, who died in January, aged 73, took early retirement from his post in 1995 after an independent inquiry found he misled the Government over suspected abuse at a children’s home.

He retired on health grounds after a report revealed he failed to pass on the concerns of a review team about “unsuitable” restraint techniques said to be used on problem youngsters at the Netherton Park assessment centre in Stannington near Morpeth.

His son, who is married with a young daughter, admitted stealing £5,580 from Matthew between January and August last year.

The victim’s difficulties made him so vulnerable Bennett was trusted to be a signatory on his bank account.

He blew the money he stole on booze benders, later confessing he found the seven-month crime spree “easy”.

By the time appalled staff at the Glebe Road residential home uncovered the theft, Matthew had less than £5 left.

Matthew’s mother Heather Benson, 51, who lives in Morpeth, stormed: “It’s disgusting that someone should prey on someone so trusting and innocent as Matthew.

“Thankfully the staff at the home found out and immediately informed the police. Bennett was supposed to be caring for my son but was cruelly stealing his savings. It’s right that he should go to prison for such a despicable crime.

“There should be some order made banning him from contact with vulnerable people again – whether they be the mentally handicapped, the elderly or juveniles.

“I hope this will send out a message that these people will be found out somewhere along the line.”

Jailing Bennett, Judge Brian Forster said: “The victim was highly vulnerable and functioned at a much lower age level.

“You plundered his account, you made 41 withdrawals and you effectively bled it dry. You took and took and took. It is clear you had a drink problem and you fuelled that by taking the money.”

The county council quickly repaid the stolen money and Bennett, of Lily Avenue, Bedlington, has since borrowed from his brother to return £4,500, the court heard.

He told police he had started by taking £50 and spending it all in the pub.

“I thought, well I got away with it once, I can get away with it again,” Bennett said. “I would say with the larger amounts I was just getting greedy. It seemed easy.”

Staff became suspicious when they were preparing to take Matthew on a trip to Flamingoland and discovered less than £5 in his account, said Alan Brockbank, prosecuting.

“This was theft in breach of a high degree of trust. He was the key worker and signatory on the account of a young man who was clearly very vulnerable.”

Geoff Knowles, defending, said Bennett had never been in trouble before and had shown real remorse.

“His whole background before this offending was as a solid member of the community. He has lost the 15 years standing he had built up with his employer.

“He is deeply ashamed and his good name and his career lie in ruins.”

Bennett’s recently-widowed mother Fiona, who still lives in Bedlington, said: “Simon is very ashamed of what he has done and is serving his punishment. He has paid the money back and that is all there is to say.”

Jane Bowie, associate director of adult services at the county council, added: “This case arose because we discovered a discrepancy in the bank statements of one of the residents at Glebe Road, which we reported to the police.

“Mr Bennett has been suspended from work since then, and now that the court case has finished, we will be able to complete the disciplinary process.

“We do not tolerate any kind of abuse or exploitation of vulnerable people, and we would encourage anyone who believes that a vulnerable person may be being abused or exploited in any care establishment in the county to contact us.”

Boss who retired after abuse inquiry

SOCIAL services boss John Bennett retired under a cloud in 1995 following an independent inquiry which exposed physical and sexual abuse of children at the county council-run Meadowdale home in Bedlington over 20 years.

Social work expert Bill Kilgallon, who carried out the inquiry, was critical of the council’s response to a Department of Health request for all social services departments to review their residential child care practices.

The request followed the 1991 ‘pindown’ scandal, involving unsuitable restraint techniques used at homes in Staffordshire.

Although evidence that such restraining techniques were used at Netherton Park in Northumberland had been uncovered by a review team, Mr Bennett poured scorn on the claims.

He withdrew the team’s report and submitted his own account in which he claimed there was no evidence that practices similar to those revealed in Staffordshire had been used.

Mr Bennett’s failure to pass on the team’s concerns to county councillors and the Department of Health was severely criticised by Mr Kilgallon. Mr Bennett, who had been Northumberland’s director of social services for nine years, applied for early retirement, a move supported by the county council.