An investigation has revealed that a convicted murderer spent years working with children after being banned from doing so.
44-year-old Rashid Zaman spent 15 years behind bars in Bradford for killing a man who tried to stop him and two others from stealing a car in 2001, the BBC reported.
He then began volunteering with St Giles Trust, a charity which works with those facing homelessness, long-term unemployment, an offending background, addiction, severe poverty and involvement in gangs.
Zaman worked his way up in the trust, becoming a paid employee who would visit homes and schools.
To work with the charity, Zaman was required to have a certificate of Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS). The certificate from 2021 said he was allowed to work with children, but the most recent one, in 2023, said he was barred, according to the BBC.
Management of the charity reportedly weren’t alerted to this until last December, long after Zaman continued his work with children.
A former staff member at St Giles has raised further issues with the charity’s safeguarding measures after the recent revelation about Zaman.
They told the BBC: ‘I feel really upset and annoyed because they are not just putting the young people at risk, they are putting staff at risk too.’
If someone who is barred from working with children does so, they face a jail sentence of up to five years or a hefty fine.
Metro has reached out to West Yorkshire Police, who said they have launched an investigation into the matter.
What is a DBS check?
A DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service check) – also known as an enhanced criminal record check – details any cautions, reprimands, warnings or convictions on a person’s criminal history.
Where relevant, an enhanced check can also check against the children/adults barred lists, to ensure applicants have not been banned from working with children or vulnerable adults.
A certificate is normally sent out to applicants which can then be given to employers or to other organisations which may have requested the check.
The check will only show convictions which are not ‘spent’ – for example, some types of caution are only valid for three months.
If a person has undergone a DBS check, they can view their certificate online – or use this service to check the progress of an application.
‘As soon as we became aware, we launched an internal investigation and re-checked all Yorkshire staff working with children, with no further concerns found. We have since strengthened our internal processes to ensure this cannot happen again and deeply regret the oversight,’ a charity spokesman said.
Metro has reached out to St Giles Trust for further information on the matter.
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