A WOMAN who “abused the public trust” by pretending to be a social worker in Harrow has been fined in a national first.

Tracey Smith, of Upper Paddock Road, Oxhey Village, claimed she was a registered professional in the field and even got a colleague to lie on a reference.

She was handed a £230 fine at Harrow Magistrates Court for her false claims, made in Harrow and elsewhere, between November 16, 2009, and August 17, last year.

Penny Thompson, chief executive of the General Social Care Council, which prosecuted the case, said: “It is important that the public has faith that someone who uses the title ‘Social Worker’ is qualified, trained and adheres to high professional standards.

“This outcome demonstrates that there are consequences for anyone trying to abuse public trust by deliberately misleading others about their professional status.”

At the time Smith was an unqualified assistant working for a foster care agency and should not have been carrying out social work or providing social care.

But she claimed she was a supervisor and even convinced a colleague to write a reference saying she was her line manager.