Nurse banned after child sex offence police sting

A marble block with the words Nursing and Midwifery Council written on it. — Image caption,
Damian Ronksley had been a registered nurse since 2009

Chloe Aslett

BBC News, Yorkshire

6 September 2025

A nurse who tried to incite a 13-year-old boy into sexual activity while on bail for another child sex offence has been struck off the professional register.

Damian Ronksley was arrested in April 2024 after messaging an undercover police officer, who he thought was a child, and asking for sexually explicit images.

He said he had done "nothing but reflect" since his conviction but the Nursing and Midwifery Council's (NMC) hearing found his insight to be limited, as he had "primarily focused on himself and his family" rather than the impact on a potential child victim.

His behaviour suggested a "harmful deep-seated personality or attitudinal problem", the hearing report stated.

Stephen Page, for professional regulatory body the NMC, told the hearing that despite the target being a "decoy" child, the risk had been "nonetheless significant".

Ronksley claimed he had shown "significant remorse" for his behaviour.

In August 2024, he pleaded guilty to attempting to incite a male child into sexual activity and two counts of sexual communication with a child.

A Sheffield Crown Court judge sentenced Ronksley to two years in prison, suspended for two years, saying he had shown a "degree of determination" in his offending.

"Within a very short period of time you were back online, looking to engage in conversation with other young boys," the judge added.

Ronksley had worked in adult nursing for Sheffield Teaching Hospitals and The Rotherham Hospital NHS Foundation Trusts, but was not employed by either at the time of his offending.

He did not attend the NMC hearing on 22 August, saying in a statement he could not "cope with it mentally" and did not dispute the charge.

He will be struck off within 28 days of the decision being sent to him, unless an appeal is lodged. An interim suspension order has been made in the meantime.