‘Scariest place I’ve worked’: social worker recalls stint in Bradford

Frank Thomson (not his real name) worked as safeguarding locum in 2018 but left after feeling unsafe

Frank Thomson* has been a social worker for more than a decade, but describes a short stint in Bradford council's child safeguarding team as without exaggerating, the scariest place I've ever worked in".

This week, the spotlight has turned to the troubled social work department after the murder of Star Hobson, a 16-month-old toddler, who was beaten to death by her mother's partner last September. On Wednesday, Savannah Brockhill, 28, was sentenced to 25 years in prison for murder; Frankie Smith, 20, Star's mother, received an eight-year sentence for causing or allowing her death.