A Powys residential child care worker who admitted harassing a colleague and breaching a court order, has been told by a Care Council Fitness to Practise Panel that he can continue to work.

Jeremy Charles Stokes will, however, be subject to an admonishment, meaning a mark will remain against his name on the professional Register for Social Care Workers for three years.

Mr Stokes, who was previously employed by MacIntyre Care as a learning facilitator at a residential special school, faced six charges relating to his conduct between 2012 and 2014.

The Care Council Fitness to Practise hearing, held over two days in Knighton, Powys, heard that, in January 2013, Mr Stokes was convicted at Brecon Magistrates’ Court of breaching a court order prohibiting him from going within 35 metres of his former family home.

Mr Stokes, from Knighton, admitted the allegation and the charge was proven by the Panel.

A second charge, that Mr Stokes had not declared to employers that he was subject to the initial court order imposed in August 2012, was found not proven by the panel as it was agreed he had “no contractual obligation to declare matters falling short of a conviction.”

The hearing also heard charges that Mr Stokes indulged in behaviour amounting to harassment, sending an excessive amount of unwanted texts to a colleague with whom he’d previously had a relationship, named only as Colleague A, and attending her home without invitation.

He was issued with a letter of notification by West Mercia Police under the Protection from Harassment Act 1997, as a result of his actions, a fact Mr Stokes acknowledged to the panel.

In evidence, he admitted he sent “lots” of texts to Colleague A, but argued that the complainant had also sent a number of messages in return.

He said he went to Colleague A’s house simply to collect his belongings, and that she had allowed him in to the property.

Mr Stokes also admitted a further allegation relating to an incident where he banged on the window of Colleague A’s car, and also swore at her when she refused to speak to him.

However, he denied an allegation that the incident took place in the presence of a student, a fact that was accepted by the Panel in the absence of substantial evidence.

A further two charges, relating to Mr Stokes’ application to renew his registration with the Care Council for Wales, and whether he had acted dishonestly by not giving accurate information about his disciplinary status, were both found not proven.

After finding Mr Stokes guilty of three charges of misconduct, the committee said it hoped the procedure, and the resulting admonishment, would serve as “a wake-up call” to him.

The panel concluded: “It would be inappropriate to close this case without sanction. The misconduct was serious and repeated, notwithstanding that it did not impact directly on the school’s students.

“An admonishment was the necessary and proportionate sanction, and marks the committee’s significant concern that the registrant should treat this procedure as a ‘wake-up call’ and ensure he does not return to his former pattern of abusive behaviour if his personal relationships come under pressure in the future.”