A MAN who worked as a residential child care worker in Gwynedd has received a warning after using a personal knife inappropriately in the presence of a young person.

Lee McCrystal was also found to have made inappropriate physical contact with the same young person, following a three-day Social Care Wales fitness to practise hearing last week.

Mr McCrystal, from Liverpool, admitted bringing a personal knife onto a shift, while charges of withdrawing and/or using it inappropriately in front of a young person, and inappropriate physical contact with him, were found proven.

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Between April 27 and May 2, 2023, when the incident took place, Mr McCrystal worked for Keys Group at a residential service which provided a short-term facility for young people prior to a move to a longer-term placement.

At the time, he and a colleague were caring for the young person within a holiday cottage.

Mr McCrystal said in his evidence that he carried the folding pocket knife for preparing food, while it was accepted that he did not hold it with any malicious intent.

But bringing his own knife with him was a breach of the Sharp Instruments Safety Policy, which required that sharp objects be locked away when not in use.

An email sent from a colleague to a senior member of staff stated that they saw Mr McCrystal with the knife on May 1 “taunting the young person in a joking, laughing manner, while also slightly aggressive”.

The email added: “I did not see the knife pointed towards the young person, only towards the floor.”

Mr McCrystal’s own written statement read: “The young person asked: ‘What if someone came in attacked them with a knife?’

“I would say: ‘If someone was attacking you, I have a duty of care and would try to keep you safe’. If someone attacked me, I would try to keep my distance.

“He kept adding to the scenario and adding more details. I said, if it is as small as this flick knife, you just have to keep your distance. I said, keep something between you.

“I demonstrated that with the coffee table. I can’t recall exactly when I got the knife out again, but at some stage, I showed him the length of the knife and my arm length.

“The young person was around two or 2.5 metres away. I was saying that, if you maintained distance like that, you would not be harmed and could get away.”

Nonetheless, the panel chairing the hearing found that Mr McCrystal demonstrated “poor judgement”, and that having a knife with an open blade out in front of the young person when not engaged in a kitchen-based task was inappropriate.

Mr McCrystal also said in his evidence that he engaged in playful activity, described by him as “horseplay”, with the young person.

On his own account, this included chasing him, carrying him on his back when he jumped on him, and “shadow boxing”.

When questioned during the hearing, he accepted that he would not engage in this sort of physical interaction with a young person again, and would do more to discourage it.

The panel found that, by interacting in a “playful and boisterous” manner with the young person, Mr McCrystal failed to discourage physical behaviour on his behalf.

Concluding that his fitness to practise is currently impaired, the panel deemed that Mr McCrystal’s conduct “fell seriously short of the expected standard, and constituted serious misconduct”.

Though, it was accepted that there was a “relatively isolated nature” about his misconduct, and that this was a case of “bad judgement, rather than malicious intent”.

The warning, taking effect on June 27, will be imposed on Mr McCrystal for two years.