Disgraced Black Country nurse in court over striking-off
A disgraced nurse fighting to save his career after he was convicted of assaulting his ex-girlfriend faces an anxious wait to learn the outcome of his case.
Black Country nurse James Kearsey was found guilty by magistrates of putting his hand around his ex's throat at her home in Blackpool in July 2013.
But he tried to cover it up, failing to tell his bosses at Dudley's Russells Hall Hospital and concocting a pack of lies when he was quizzed.
Last November, following a disciplinary hearing, a Nursing and Midwifery Council panel ordered that he be struck off for 'misconduct'.
However, the Stourbridge nurse was back in court – very briefly – as his lawyers began a legal bid to overturn his striking off at the High Court.
Mr Kearsey was present at the start of the hearing but hastily left the London courtroom, complaining of feeling sick.
On his behalf, barrister Gemma Hobcraft said striking him off was 'unfair' due to a series of problems in the NMC hearing.
Some of the evidence which had gone before the panel was 'irrelevant' to the decision which it had to make, she argued.
Other material, contained in an account of his original interview by his employer, should not have been included in evidence, she continued.
It was not a verbatim record of what was said and the interviewer was concerned about Mr Kearsey's mental state at the time.
Her concerns were such that she had referred him to occupational health.
Mr Kearsey had not even signed the document, the barrister added, meaning it should have been given little weight by the panel.
"Was it fair for this to go before the panel, given it is unsigned and particularly once concerns were raised in relation to his mental state at the time?" she asked.
He had claimed the assault was of the husband of a woman he was having an affair with, but that it had been in self-defence.
Lawyers representing the NMC said the decision of the panel should stand.
The court heard the panel had found that Mr Kearsey deliberately withheld the conviction from his bosses and the NMC, the professional nurses' body.
And when he came up with the story about the assault, he had been deliberately dishonest, it said.
Mr Justice Ouseley said he would give his ruling on Mr Kearsey's appeal at a late date.
