A charity worker in Rotherham has been cleared of fraud after accepting a £16,000 gift from a vulnerable service user she supported, in a case that examined the boundaries between professional care and personal friendship. Kathryn Kelwick, 55, had worked as a vulnerable adults manager at Swinton Lock Activity Centre and was accused of fraud by abuse of position over money taken from a compensation payout awarded to a sexual abuse victim she supported.

Jurors at Sheffield Crown Court returned a not guilty verdict on Wednesday. Kelwick had encouraged the complainant to claim compensation through the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority, and the woman was subsequently awarded £33,000 between September 2021 and May 2022; the complainant said splitting the money had been "part of the deal", which Kelwick denied. Kelwick told the trial she considered the pair "really close friends" and viewed the money as a gift, though she accepted she should not have kept it while denying it was "criminally wrong". She was previously dismissed from her role for gross misconduct.