A NURSE who took an NHS-leased Mercedes to a car wash after her son shot a rival in the back seat has been struck from the register.
Patricia Dean was working at North Manchester General Hospital when her son Vincenzo De Falco shot a love rival in the leg with a shotgun in the back of her car in January 2019.
The victim, Jonathan Smith, was previously in a relationship with De Falco’s girlfriend and was shot at point blank range after being questioned by the 31-year-old while buying cannabis from him.
As police hunted for De Falco, the 60-year-old mum called in sick to have the vehicle deep-cleaned at a car valet to remove any traces of the victim’s blood.
The former mental health nurse was later sentenced to 18 months at Bolton Crown Court after being found guilty of assisting an offender.
However, it appears that Dean has now been released early from prison, having recently advertised lamps for sale on her Facebook page.
Dean has continued to claim that she was entirely unaware of her son’s conduct prior to having the car valeted, and maintained her innocence.
The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) decided to remove Dean from their register last week following a two day hearing into the incident.
The NMC panel said: “The panel noted that no concerns were raised about your clinical practice and had sight of positive testimonials from colleagues about your nursing skills.
“Your criminal behaviour happened outside of a work context and the panel concluded you do not pose any risk to patients.
“The panel noted that your actions and conviction amount to a serious breach of the fundamental tenets of the profession and were a significant departure from the standards expected of a registered nurse.
“The panel concluded that the circumstances leading to your conviction are fundamentally incompatible with you remaining on the register.
“The panel determined that the appropriate and proportionate sanction is that of a striking-off order.
“The panel was of the view that the findings in this particular case demonstrate that your actions were serious and to allow you to continue practising would undermine public confidence in the profession and in the NMC as a regulatory body.
“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.”
Despite wishing to continue practising as a nurse, Dean initially said she wished to voluntarily remove her name from the register to avoid “further embarrassment”.
The panel concluded that Dean had shown “limited insight” about her conviction.
Dean’s son De Falco was sentenced to 11 years and three months behind bars last November after having pleaded guilty to causing grievous bodily harm with intent and supplying cannabis.
