The family “terrorised” by a Dundee council social work employee caught snooping on them, said they have been left disgusted by his sentencing.
Liam Buchan was convicted at Dundee Sheriff Court of breaking data protection rules after he illegally accessed files about his former partner Courtney Esson and her family.
Buchan was fined £400 by a sheriff, who lamented the lamented the limited sentencing options available to him.
Ms Esson said her ordeal began before she had even met him.
Family fury
Buchan pled guilty to accessing personal files via the Dundee City Council social work database between July and October 2018.
Courtney, who lives now in Northern Ireland, said that means her files had been accessed by Buchan before she was introduced to him in September.
She said: “I did not meet him until September but he was looking at my personal files long before then, since at least July.
“I am not happy with the sentence at all.
“He has been fined what, £400?”
During the sentencing hearing, Sheriff Robert More spoke of the “inadequate” punishment he could impose.
Dundee City Council confirmed in the wake of the case Buchan no longer works for the authority.
However, it emerged the 25-year-old, who now lives in Aboyne, near Aberdeen, works for NHS Grampian as a social care worker, despite his conviction.
Courtney’s mother, Lisa, said: “He has got away with it.
“That fine is like a night-out.
“How can he still work in a role within social care?
“It is negligence on their part – NHS Grampian and Dundee City Council.
“Why is he allowed to continue working in this field?
“I still want to know how and why he accessed files about my daughter before he even met her.”
Job concerns
After he was convicted, The Courier asked Dundee City Council whether concerns had been flagged to NHS Grampian around Buchan’s suspension and subsequent conviction.
A spokesperson was unable to say if they were but did say: “We note the conviction of this individual, who is no longer employed by Dundee City Council.
“The council reviews its processes around issues like data protection and registration on a regular basis.”
As of publication, Buchan was still employed by NHS Grampian.
A spokesperson for NHS Grampian said: “Where concerns are raised about criminal activity involving any of our staff, we follow nationally agreed policies to investigate and understand the impact that any such activity might have upon their employment with NHS Grampian.”
Resigned for ‘reasons unknown’
At a previous hearing, depute fiscal Christine Allan told the court: “The accused had access (to the database) to update young persons’ care plans.
“He should only have had access for doing so.
“Issues had arisen around his Scottish Social Services Council registration… he was moved to another department as a support worker.”
The fiscal said enquiries were made with the IT department in November 2018 and it was found the accused had been accessing data pertaining to the complainer and her family.
She said: “The accused resigned from Dundee City Council, for ‘reasons unknown’.”
