Social worker removed from Welsh Register for historic child sex abuse

A social worker from south Wales, who is currently serving nine years in prison for historic child sex abuse, has been removed from the Register of Social Care Workers.

A Social Care Wales fitness to practise hearing last week found that Luke West’s fitness to practise was impaired because of his criminal conviction.

At the criminal proceedings, Mr West admitted to sexually abusing a highly vulnerable child over a three-year period more than 25 years ago, before he began working in social care.

He was subsequently convicted of eight offences of indecent assault on a male and five offences of indecency with a child, and on 9 June 2017 was sentenced to nine years in prison at Cardiff Crown Court.

Mr West resigned from his role as a social worker working with disabled children when the allegations came to light and has been subject to an interim suspension order, which barred him from working as a social worker until the fitness to practise hearing.

Mr West did not attend the hearing on 4 October at Social Care Wales’s Cardiff office due to his imprisonment, but he did co-operate with the proceedings.

Explaining its decision to remove Mr West from the Register, the committee said: “Mr West carried out grave offences over a three-year period. Individual A was the only victim but it is clear from the papers before us that he was very significantly affected by Mr West’s actions.

“We acknowledged that Mr West will not be free to practise as a result of his imprisonment but it was necessary for us to take independent action to protect the public, particularly so as to protect public confidence in the social care profession.”