An incompetent social worker who falsely accused families of prostitution and shoplifting, made racist remarks about colleagues and service users and took sick pay from one employer while secretly working for another has been struck off.

Faatien Le Jardin was banned from social work by the General Social Care Council (GSCC) after a hearing in central London on March 22 and 23.

The hearing heard details of a catalogue of serious mistakes and failures while Le Jardin was employed by Merton Council from 2006 to 2008.

Towards the end of her time with the council, where she worked with vulnerable children, she declared herself too sick to work - but secretly began a job with an agency contracted by neighbouring Croydon Council.

The committee said Le Jardin was unprofessional and dishonest, did not engage with families, and failed to follow care plans and child protection procedures.

She also used the possibility of children being taken into care as a “threat” to families.

The committee also said she made damning judgements about families without any evidence - including allegations that one parent was a shoplifter and another was a prostitute.

The hearing was told she made demeaning and derogatory remarks about black colleagues and service users, produced reports with “serious inaccuracies and judgements” and sent important messages to other professionals that were “brief and entirely inadequate”.

The hearing was told between June 6 and October 11, 2008, she was on sick leave from her job at Merton - but took a job at a social work agency contracted by Croydon from August 18 to November 20.

Le Jardin failed to engage with the committee during the proceedings - but in October it received an anonymous letter from someone claiming to be a friend of the social worker.

It said: “She suffered a nervous breakdown last year and has, I believe, relocated to Saudi Arabia to recover. I doubt she will return to the UK.”

The committee removed her from the social care register with immediate effect.

Merton Council said Le Jardin began working with the Children in Need team from August 2002 and managers were made aware of concerns regarding her work in 2007.

She resigned during an independent investigation into her work and the case was referred to the GSCC.

Croydon Council said it carried out a full CRB check on Le Jardin and ensured she was registered with the GSSC.

It said it made checks with Merton and she was suspended as soon as the problems came to light.