A social worker who was struck off for misconduct following the murder of a 13-month old has successfully appealed the decision to remove her from the Register of Social Workers.

 

Eleni Cordingley was sacked in January this year after the death in May 2005 of baby Aaron Gilbert of Swansea, South Wales at the hands of his mother’s boyfriend.

 

Although Cordingley admitted an error of judgement in the case, the Care Standards tribunal that dealt with her appeal found no evidence that her lapse had led to Aaron’s death.

 

At an earlier hearing carried out by the Care Council of Wales, it was heard that Cordingley had not acted on two anonymous tip-offs and referred the case to the council’s child assessment team. The two day appeal hearing found that Aaron’s murder would not have been prevented, even if the assessment team had been informed.

 

The hearing noted that Mrs Cordingley had accepted her error and lived with a great deal of regret over the incident.

 

“There is [sic] no doubt in our mind that she suffers huge remorse," explained the committee.

 

“She blames herself for Aaron's death. It has affected her health and her family life. She has suffered vilification in the press and ill informed public opprobrium. We do not consider that Mrs Cordingley's honest but wrong decision fell into the category of decisions that required the ultimate sanction.”

 

Aaron’s killer, Andrew Lloyd, was given a life sentence for the murder with a recommended tariff of 24 years. The child’s mother was found guilty of familial homicide and jailed for 6 years.

 

Swansea council has now resolved to offer Mrs Cordingley, who still lives in the area, her job back as a social worker.