A nurse responsible for a Royal Bolton Respiratory Ward during the coronavirus crisis was struck off after she accessed indecent images of children.

The Nursing and Midwifery Council said Rebecca Ruler accessed indecent images across all three categories in the 12 months up to April 28, 2022.

On May 28, 2022, Ms Ruler was arrested and she was sentenced to a 12-month suspended sentence for the offences. She was sentenced to a five-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order and 10 years on the Sex Offenders Register.

On September 18 this year, around a year after sentencing, she was struck off by a tribunal which heard how at least one of the offences was while she was at work where she was responsible for a Royal Bolton Respiratory Ward.

A ruling said: "The conviction raises concern Ms Ruler poses potential harm to others."

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The Nursing and Midwifery Council said Mr Ruler accessed indecent images across all three categories. Category A involves images of penetrative sexual activity, Category B involves images of non-penetrative sexual activity and Category C involves any other indecent images which are not within the other categories.

The tribunal accepted an agreement between the Nursing and Midwifery Council and Ms Ruler in which she accepted all of the allegations against her last week.

A ruling said: "The panel agreed the appropriate and proportionate sanction is a striking-off order [...] The panel agreed nothing short of this would be sufficient.

"The panel considered that this order was necessary to mark the importance of maintaining public confidence in the profession and to send to the public and the profession a clear message about the standard of behaviour required of a registered nurse."

A striking-off order is the most serious sanction for a practitioner. It is for life although a practitioner is allowed to apply for restoration after a period of five years.

This article was written by Jack Tooth. To contact him, email jack.tooth@newsquest.co.uk or follow @JTRTooth on Twitter.