Barnsley's failure to perform the correct checks on convicted drug dealer Ian Farmery is 'astonishing' according to Gordon Taylor – the chief executive of the Professional Footballers' Association.
Ian Farmery was employed as a youth team physiotherapist from August 2011 to December 2014 despite having been handed a 40-week suspended sentence for dealing mephedrone just after getting the job. A letter sent earlier this year by the Reds' law firm Brabners, to a parent who had found out about Farmery's conviction, admitted that the club did not perform a Criminal Records Bureau check, now known as a Disclosure and Barring Service check.
Taylor, who has represented footballers for decades, said Barnsley's failure to perform the checks was unhelpful in the context of the current revelations of historic child sex abuse in other clubs' academies, in which Barnsley and Farmery are not implicated.
Taylor told the Chronicle: "I find it astonishing that something like this can happen in the modern age. It is a clear non-compliance with the guidelines. You can have all the guidelines and rules in the world but they are useless if clubs do not adhere to them.
"Football clubs need to be capable of protecting the young boys who come under their protection."
The legal letter from Brabners, which the Chronicle has seen, says: "Contrary to our club policies, a CRB (DBS) check was not undertaken prior to his employment. A CRB (DBS) check was not undertaken in respect of Mr Farmery prior to his resignation. The club was not aware of Mr Farmery's criminal convictions during his employment."
Barnsley have said they have "completed a review, independently assessed, with the Football Association to ensure rigorous safeguarding procedures are in place, and fully in compliance with all FA recommendations". They added that they are "committed to a thorough safeguarding policy to protect children and young persons and all individuals who come into contact with the club."
Kevin Philliskirk, the former head of education at Oakwell, told the Guardian that Barnsley was 'a club that tried to cut corners' and 'did not have a proper DBS process in place.'
