Ban on Climbié social worker is overturned

The social worker at the centre of the Victoria Climbié scandal was today given permission to work with vulnerable children again.

Lisa Arthurworrey was sacked after failing to spot the abuse of the eight-year-old, who was tortured to death by her great aunt Marie Therese Koao and her boyfriend Carl Manning in February 2000. They received life sentences for murder.

Ms Arthurworrey, who worked for Haringey council, was cleared by a court of neglect after it heard how she had been overworked. However, formereducation secretary Charles Clarke banned her from working with at-risk children. In 2005, she applied to start work again as an approved social worker but her application was rejected by the General Social Care Council.

She appealed, and the Care Standards Tribunal has now overturned the ban. The GSCC was "disappointed" by the decision. Today's judgment carries restrictions which include a psychiatric examination and retraining.