Being 'decent' is not an indicator. Its meaning is useless. Does this then mean that a doctor who has a hangover and kills a patient just 'went bad'?
The reality is that this qualified childcarer abused two small, vulnerable children in her care over a period of time and it was not an isolated incident that happened one afternoon in the park.
I owned a nanny agency in Northern Ireland for seven years and was fortunate to have access to a pre-employment check service by both the police and social services that enabled me to conduct a thorough check of a nanny to ensure she was employable in the care of children. That check, along with all our other very stringent checks, provided parents with a safety net.
It would seem from Mr Black's comments that nannies can be decent (which I am sure 99.9 per cent are) but if they have an off day, well, they just 'went bad'.
It is time the Government took proper action and set up a register for ALL childcarers in the UK. And who, I wonder, looks after baby Leo Blair while his parents go abroad?
Dorothy Greer, Belfast
