A newly-qualified mental health nurse who downloaded child and extreme adult pornography has been banned from the profession by the nursing watchdog.
Andrew Martin Mackay, 35, of Birchview, Newmore, Invergordon, was caught with hundreds of sickening images on his computers after police raided his home.
He was handed a three-year supervision order and 300 hours of unpaid community work at Inverness Sheriff Court in April last year.
He admitted possession of extreme pornography and indecent images of children.
Mackay had qualified as a nurse just six months before his crimes came to light.
The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) has now decided to strike him off, saying his crimes are ‘fundamentally incompatible’ with him remaining in the profession.
An NMC panel said Mackay’s previous home address was raided by police in April 2014 and various items of computer equipment were seized.
Officers discovered nearly 500 indecent images of children and a number of extreme pornographic images – which included adult women performing sex acts with animals.
All of the images had been downloaded between August 2012 and April 2014.
He had also made internet searches for the terms ‘bestiality’ and ‘incest’.
When arrested, Mackay told officers he had looked at the images and said they made him ‘physically sick’.
Announcing the panel’s decision, following a hearing in London, the NMC said: “The panel had regard to the fact that Mr Mackay had qualified as a nurse less than six months prior to having been found accessing indecent images.
“It found Mr Mackay’s behaviour to be directly relevant to his role as a registered nurse, and extremely concerning, given that he would have been in a position of power over vulnerable patients.
“Mr Mackay’s actions were very serious and significant departures from the standards expected of a registered nurse, and are fundamentally incompatible with his remaining on the register”.