Southend 'simulated sex act' nurse is struck off

Edward Jacobs was a mental health nurse at The Taylor Centre in Southend

A nurse who grabbed a colleague before "rubbing" his groin against her bottom in a "simulated sex act" has been struck off.

Edward Jacobs was a mental health nurse at The Taylor Centre in Southend when the incident happened in December 2015.

A Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) conduct panel heard Mr Jacobs accepted his actions were "entirely inappropriate" and had apologised.

The NMC found Mr Jacobs had "humiliated and degraded" his colleague.

'Sexual gratification'

The panel also found, after testimony from the nurse affected, that Mr Jacobs was in a state of arousal during the episode - something Mr Jacobs "adamantly" denied.

David Claxton, for Mr Jacobs, said his actions "were spontaneous and took place immediately after (he) had been joking with two other male colleagues".

Mr Claxton told the panel the misconduct had not been for his client's "own sexual gratification" but an extension of "previous joking designed to amuse" two other colleagues who were there at the time.

However, despite Mr Jacobs' apologies and his attendance on a professional boundaries course, which he paid for, the NMC has banned him from working as a nurse.

Essex Partnership University Trust, which runs the Taylor Centre, said Mr Jacobs was dismissed in May 2016 following a "full internal process".

A spokeswoman said at no point was patient safety "compromised" by the incident.