Care worker John Mair left child 'screaming in fear' after holding lighter to ten-year-old boy's face

A residential childcare worker has been struck off after holding a lighter to a child’s face.

John Mair left the youngster “screaming in fear” after attempting to make him touch the flame during the incident in August 2021.

The worker also shared explicit videos of himself with colleagues that left them feeling “uncomfortable” and “embarrassed”.

An investigation by the Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) found Mair had caused “distress” to the ten-year-old.

He has now been struck off the register.

A report by the watchdog uncovered Mair told a colleague he did this so the child, referred to as AA, could “get used” to lighters.

It was also found that Mair showed the young person the lighter again telling them “stroke the lighter it’s your friend”.

The investigation found that this amounted to emotional abuse.

“To your employer, you acknowledged that AA had a negative reaction to your lighter, although you deny that you clicked this close to AA’s face”, the report states.

“AA had shown that he was distressed and so you knew or ought to have known that by showing him the lighter again you risked causing him further distress”.

Mair was found to have verbally abused AA around August 20, 2021, during which the child said “shut the f*** up” to Mair who responded, “who the f*** do you think you’re talking to”.

Mair’s employer told the SSSC that he did not show any regret or offer an apology in relation to the allegations involving AA.

The SSSC imposed the order to remove Mair’s registration from the part of the Register for Residential Child Care Workers.