Child porn nurse kicked out of the profession

A senior nurse from Shropshire who downloaded child porn on to his home computer has been kicked out of his profession after a misconduct hearing.

Andrew Ford, of Napoleon Drive, Shrewsbury, was arrested by Torquay police during a probe into a paedophile pornography ring.

At the hearing of the Nursing and Midwifery Council yesterday, the 42-year-old was struck off.

He did not appear in person but instead wrote a letter to the panel claiming the images, including some of underage girls posing naked, were not erotic.

Panel chairwoman Judith Way said Ford's actions were "fundamentally incompatible with continuing to be registered as a nurse".

She criticised Ford for failing to fully acknowledge the extent of the problem and for claiming the police caution he received was for a single category one image - the least serious type.

Ford's activity came to light when a routine Crimin- al Record Bureau check by his employers revealed he was the subject of a police investigation, the NMC hearing previously heard

He was suspended from his job as a senior staff nurse for the Devonshire Partnership NHS Trust.

He later received a police caution at Torquay Police Station for downloading indecent images of children in August 2008 and was ordered to sign the sex offenders register for two years.

"There is no reason to doubt the police officer's evidence that the caution was for 25 images in categories one to three,"said Mrs Way.

"The panel takes the view Mr Ford has shown limited insight. His behaviour represents a serious departure from the relevant standards of conduct and confidence in the NMC would be undermined if he were not struck off the register."