A man convicted of possessing and distributing indecent images of children has been removed from the Social Care Register by an independent committee of the General Social Care Council (GSCC).

Paul Derek Girdlestone, 48, was employed as a social worker within a mental health team for Hampshire Social Services when the allegations came to light. Police investigations found that the images were not stored on a work computer, and that no one under the care of Mr Girdlestone had been put at risk.

Mr Girdlestone was convicted at Winchester Crown Court on 15 February 2008 of three counts of distributing indecent images of children, and 22 counts of possessing indecent images of children. He is currently serving a 21 month custodial sentence and will be placed on the Sex Offenders Register for life.

Mr Girdlestone did not attend the hearing, but in a letter to the GSCC he admitted misconduct and said he would not work within social care upon his release from prison.

The Committee found Mr Girdlestone was guilty of misconduct and said he had breached the Code of Practice for Social Care Workers that all social workers sign up to when they register with the GSCC. The code specifically says a social worker must not “behave in a way, in work or outside work, which could call into question your suitability to work in social services.”

Rosie Varley, Chair of the GSCC, said: “All social workers have a responsibility to act appropriately and with integrity, abiding by the law and the GSCC code of practice. Thankfully the majority of the 80,000 registered social workers find no difficulty in complying with this. In order to maintain the safety of vulnerable people we take all matters of law breaking by social workers extremely seriously, and will not hesitate to apply the appropriate sanctions.”

Mr Girdlestone was removed from the register with immediate effect. Social workers have a right of appeal to the independent First-tier Tribunal (Care Standards).