Social Worker Defends Care Of Girl Who Died From Overdose

A social worker yesterday stood by a decision not to return a troubled teenager to secure accommodation months before she died after taking drugs on a night away from council care.

Margaret McGahey said staff at Edinburgh’s Howdenhall Young Persons’ Unit were trying to encourage Danielle Scott to be independent.

Ms Scott, 17, from Glasgow, died after taking the heroin substitute methadone on a night away from the home in February, 2005. The teenager’s parents had earlier called for her to be committed to a psychiatric hospital.

Mrs McGahey – who was Ms Scott’s key social worker for part of her stay – was giving evidence at a fatal accident inquiry at Edinburgh Sheriff Court.

Asked if more-secure accommodation would have helped, Mrs McGahey said: “Returning to the Children’s Panel and asking for secure accommodation was discussed but not agreed. It was not felt it was necessary for Danielle to be secured.”

She added: “I spent a lot of time with Danielle and I don’t think returning her to secure accommodation would have helped.”

The inquiry continues at Edinburgh Sheriff Court.

Meanwhile, Edinburgh social work chief Michelle Miller has called for a significant reduction in the provision of secure accommodation for children and young people. Speaking on behalf of the Association of Directors of Social Work, she told Herald Society that a crisis in the funding of secure care should be used as an opportunity to review whether the huge cost of such accommodation was justified and whether creative alternatives could be found.