AN AYR carer was struck off after pinching a resident and dishonestly applying for work while suspended.

Chelsea Carruthers was removed from register after the care watchdog found her fitness to practice impaired.

The panel found she had acted dishonestly and found the allegations which Carruthers denies proven during the online hearing late last month.

While working as a care assistant for West Coast Care Limited in Ayr, Carruthers told a distressed resident that “you have no right to be here” or words to that effect before nipping them on the arm on March 30, 2019.

While subject to a temporary suspension order, the panel found she acted dishonestly through applying for a care assistant job in Ayr on or around February 3 this year .

The found she dishonestly advised an employee of West Coast Care Limited that she was no longer subject to the suspension order or under investigation, when this was not true on or around February 4 this year in an attempt to mislead the service.

Hearing papers state she then applied for the role of student care assistant with a recruitment agency in Ayr when this required registration on February 10, before again stating she was no longer subject to a temporary suspension order.

She then claimed that her suspension listed on the SSSC website was an administrative oversight when this was not true.

The SSSC stated: “The panel considers that a removal order is the most appropriate sanction as it is both necessary and justified in the public interest.”