An Edinburgh support worker took money from an autistic man and used his car to drive to a training event.
David McCusker took £30 from a service user’s finance tin for fuel before taking the cash home and not paying it back for days. He also drove to a training event in Granton, leaving the man without support.
As well as both incidents while employed as a support worker for Autism Initiatives in August 2023, McCusker also admitted he “would hate” to be autistic and questioned ‘why parents would say no when asked to change their child’.
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McCusker was hauled before the Scottish Social Services Council after his conduct was reported to the regulator and given an 18-month warning, although the council confirmed he has not worked in social services.
On August 27, 2023, McCusker failed to record he took £30 from the supporter person’s finance tin. He failed to return the cash until several days later. On August 10 he used the same person’s car and support time to travel to and from a training event, leaving the service user without one-to-one support which was required.
On or around July 6, 2021, while in the presence of someone diagnosed with autism, McCusker told a colleague: “I would hate to be autistic because everyone has such a hard life.”
He continued to say: “Why do parents say no when asked if they would change their child”, or words to that effect.
McCusker’s conduct once again came into question when he failed to properly dress a supported person who was standing in ripped boxer shorts with their genitals exposed.
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The panel told McCusker: “You took money out of supported person AA’s finance tin for fuel for AA’s car and failed to put in an IOU and follow the IOU procedure, as per your employer’s policy. You did not put fuel in AA’s car and took the money home with you that day.
“The money was not paid back until several days later. You used supported person AA’s car and support time to travel to and from a training event. This placed AA and your colleagues at risk of harm as AA was left with 1:1 support, when he requires.”
They continued: “When picking you up from the training event, AA was in the car and displayed behaviours of concern and anxiety during the car trip due to the traffic and unfamiliar route. Using AA’s car for this purpose could have caused financial harm to AA as AA was not reimbursed for the mileage or for the wear and tear of the vehicle for unnecessary trips.
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“These journeys were not for the benefit of AA. During a conversation with a colleague, in the presence of supported person BB who is diagnosed with autism, you made inappropriate and unprofessional comments about people living with autism.”
The panel determined McCusker’s behaviour to be “moderately serious” and suggested underlying issues and a lack of awareness.
They added how McCusker has provided limited insight and reflection as well as failing to engage with the SSSC investigation
Autism Initiatives were asked for comment.