Key Points
- Lowri Williams, 62, a carer based in Victoria Parade, Pwllheli, is now not on the register of Social Care Wales after defrauding an 89-year-old man.
- Her registration has been swiftly withdrawn following a fitness to practise hearing held on 5 November 2026.
- Between January and February 2023, Williams withdrew £4,950 from the bank account of Gwilym Owen without authorization.
- Owen had allowed Williams to access his bank card to assist him with bills and shopping, although Williams withdrew way above what had been agreed.
- In April, Williams pleaded guilty to fraud by false representation, receiving a 34-week custodial sentence suspended for 18 months.
- Additionally, she was ordered to pay £1,100 in compensation, do 20 rehabilitation activity days and observe a three-month curfew of 7 pm to 7 am.
- Steve Jones, chairman of the Social Care Wales panel, says that the removal order is essential due to the possibility of financial detriment to vulnerable persons.
- Williams did not attend the hearing and lacked any legal representation.
- As per Social Care Wales, her registration will be suspended as of 9 November 2026, before a removal order on 7 December 2026.
Wales (Wales Times) November 13, 2026 — A Gwynedd care worker has been removed from the professional social care register after withdrawing £4,950 from the bank account of an 89-year-old man without permission, in what a judge described as an “abominable” breach of trust.
As reported by the North Wales Chronicle, Lowri Williams, 62, of uk/local/newport/victoria/">Victoria Parade, Pwllheli, was handed an immediate removal order by Social Care Wales at a fitness-to-practise hearing on Thursday, 5 November. The regulator said her name will be erased from the social care register.
Williams had previously been sentenced at Caernarfon Crown Court in April after admitting fraud by false representation. She received 34 weeks’ imprisonment, suspended for 18 months, after taking thousands of pounds from the account of Gwilym Owen, who has a number of health issues including dementia.
What did Lowri Williams do?
According to the North Wales Chronicle, Williams withdrew the £4,950 from Mr Owen’s account between January and February 2023. The report said Mr Owen had previously helped Williams financially and had given her permission to use his bank card to assist with her own bills and shopping.
However, prosecutor Richard Edwards told Caernarfon Crown Court that Williams repeatedly attended cash machines and withdrew “far more than had been agreed with the victim”. The offending took place between 30 January and 16 February 2023.
The fraud came to light when Mr Owen went to the HSBC branch in Caernarfon to withdraw £1,000 and was told by a cashier that he did not have sufficient funds. As reported by the North Wales Chronicle, he said he was left “in shock” by the discovery.
In a statement read to the court, Mr Owen said: “This incident has left me nervous. I’m upset that someone I trust could take advantage of me and has accessed my finances.”
What sentence did Williams receive?
Judge Simon Mills described Williams’s conduct as a “serious breach of trust” against a “vulnerable” man, whom he said she had treated in a “grossly dishonest” and “abominable” manner.
As reported by the North Wales Chronicle, Williams was ordered to pay £1,100 in compensation, complete 20 days of rehabilitation activity and abide by a three-month curfew between 7pm and 7am.
The North Wales Chronicle also reported that none of the £4,950 had been repaid at the time of the sentencing hearing.
In its earlier court coverage, the newspaper reported that Williams initially pleaded not guilty. Her defence barrister, Elen Owen, said Williams was a 61-year-old mother and grandmother of previous good character who had worked in the care industry, and that proceedings had caused her “shame and distress”.
Why has Social Care Wales removed her?
Social Care Wales said Williams registered as an adult care home worker in March 2021 and had been employed by Gwynedd Council. The regulator said she is no longer employed by the local authority and that the conduct occurred outside her employment.
At the fitness-to-practise hearing, panel chair Steve Jones said Williams had “brought the profession into disrepute” and that her conduct represented a “serious departure from the honesty, trustworthiness and integrity” expected of someone in her role.
As reported by the North Wales Chronicle, Mr Jones said: “We recognise the conduct arose outside Ms Williams’ employment. Nevertheless, the concerns are directly relevant to concerns placed in a care worker.”
He added: “The evidence available does not provide reassurance that the risk arising from the conviction has been sufficiently addressed.”
What did the panel decide?
Mr Jones said a removal order was the “only appropriate disposal in this case” after what he described as a “serious breach of trust”.
He said there would be an “unresolved risk of financial harm to vulnerable people” if Williams was not struck off.
“There is no evidence demonstrating insight, remediation, or that the risk has reduced,” Mr Jones said, according to the North Wales Chronicle.
Williams, who had no previous disciplinary record with Social Care Wales, did not attend the hearing and did not have legal representation.
What does the removal order mean?
Social Care Wales’s official hearing record lists Lowri Wyn Williams, registration number W/5047292, as an adult care home worker. It records a hearing on 5 November 2026 and an outcome of an immediate order to suspend registration from 9 November 2026, pending a removal order on 7 December 2026.
The hearing was conducted remotely by Zoom.
Under Social Care Wales policy, information about a removal order and its decision summary remains on the regulator’s website for five years. The policy states that a person subject to a removal order is banned from reapplying to the register for at least five years.
The regulator’s published policy also says that a person’s name remains on the List of Persons Removed from the Register unless they are restored through a successful application or the removal is overturned by the Care Standards Tribunal.
What did other coverage say?
Welsh-language broadcaster S4C reported that Williams’s name had been removed from the professional register after she withdrew almost £5,000 from the bank account of an elderly family friend. S4C reported that the panel considered the action necessary because her fitness to practise remained in doubt.
S4C also reported that the removal means Williams cannot work in any social care role in Wales.
Yahoo News, republishing coverage of the April court case, reported that Williams had admitted fraud by false representation between 1 December 2022 and 16 February 2023. It reported that Mr Owen was described in court as having a close bond with Williams’s family, and that Williams’s sister held power of attorney for him.
Yahoo News also reported that a five-year restraining order prevented Williams from approaching or contacting the victim.
Background of the development
Social Care Wales regulates social care workers in Wales and can hold fitness-to-practise hearings where a registrant’s conduct, competence or health raises concerns about their ability to practise safely. Its published guidance says removal is among the sanctions available to a fitness-to-practise panel after a finding that fitness to practise is impaired.
The regulator’s rules allow a registered person to apply voluntarily for removal from the register, but the process in this case followed a fitness-to-practise hearing and resulted in an immediate suspension pending removal.
The case also follows wider concern about financial abuse of older and vulnerable people. In this case, the court heard that Mr Owen had trusted Williams, allowed her access to his bank card and had previously supported her financially.
Prediction: how this development can affect care users
For older people, families and care providers in Gwynedd, the decision is likely to reinforce the importance of clear controls around bank cards, cash withdrawals and financial assistance provided by carers, relatives or acquaintances. The regulator’s decision signals that convictions involving dishonesty can lead to removal from the register even where the offending occurred outside a person’s employment.
For registered care workers, the case underlines that Social Care Wales assesses conduct beyond the workplace when it bears directly on the honesty, trustworthiness and integrity required in care roles. The panel’s stated concern about unresolved financial risk to vulnerable people indicates that a lack of demonstrated insight or remediation can be decisive in removal decisions.
For families supporting relatives with dementia or other health conditions, the development may encourage closer monitoring of account activity, agreed spending limits and independent checks on financial arrangements. The case shows how a permitted arrangement can become the setting for unauthorised withdrawals when safeguards are not in place.
