A SENIOR mental health nurse who admitted stealing almost £1,000 of 'popper' style drugs from a busy A&E department has been ordered to complete 80 hours of community service.
Trevor Fleming (52) pleaded guilty to taking seven boxes of amyl nitrate inhalers from Antrim Area Hospital last year.
The medication is widely used for recreational purposes in the gay community.
Fleming, who held the post of head of mental health nursing services in the Northern health trust, was earning in excess of £60,000 annually and had more than 30 years' experience in his field.
He also worked once a week as an A&E nurse to keep up his clinical skills.
He admitted stealing one box of the medication worth £141 on November 8 last year, and the theft of six boxes worth £846 between December 31 2013 and November 9 last year.
The money has been paid back in full to the health trust.
A prosecuting lawyer yesterday told Antrim Magistrates' Court that nursing staff in the casualty department became suspicious after noticing inhalers were missing from the unit's fridge.
CCTV cameras had been installed and Fleming, of Ballydonaghy Road in Crumlin, could be seen taking a box.
His arrest last November came shortly after he had finished a night-shift at the A&E.
The court heard that regular stock checks were conducted but there was no proper record or paperwork of the drugs contained in the missing box.
Defence solicitor Tony Caher described Fleming's crimes as a gross breach of trust and a "terrible fall from grace" following a lengthy career in which he had reached the top of his profession.
Handing over character references, Mr Caher said the authors conveyed their "incomprehension and dismay that a good person could be involved in conduct which was a betrayal of all that he holds dear".
He insisted that Fleming "was in no way an addict" and that he had paid a heavy price for the thefts, with the loss of his reputation, his career and a significant drop in income.
The solicitor added: "The clang of prison gates does not have to be obtained in this case to act as a deterrent."
Imposing the community service order and commenting that it was a "great loss to the nursing profession," District Judge Alan White said the theft of the inhalers was clearly "a gross breach of trust by a nurse" but he told Fleming "the person who suffered the most is yourself, through the loss of your career and income."
Earlier this year, the disgraced nurse was suspended for 18 months by his professional body, the Nursing and Midwifery Council. An investigation is ongoing.
