A former head of the Northern trust's mental health services has been banned from working as a nurse after stealing almost £1,000 worth of "popper" style drugs.
A Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) panel suspended Trevor Fleming's licence for a year following his conviction for taking amyl nitrate capsules from one of Northern Ireland's busiest A&E departments.
The panel found Fleming's fitness to practise was impaired following his admission of stealing the drugs from Antrim Area Hospital.
It said Fleming "had not acted with integrity or honesty".
He was given a community service order in August last year after pleading guilty to taking seven boxes of amyl nitrate inhalers from Antrim hospital.
During a two-day hearing in Belfast last week, the NMC panel heard that Fleming was "experiencing significant pressure at work, being involved as a witness in a difficult employment tribunal and dealing with issues arising from the suicide of a patient" at the time.
It was also revealed that he referred himself to the NMC following his arrest in November 2014.
The hearing heard evidence from Alan Corry-Finn, the current executive director of nursing at the Western Health and Social Care Trust, who used to work with Fleming.
He told the panel that he believed Fleming's behaviour was a "serious blip" and the nursing profession was "poorer" without him.
But in a report, the panel said Fleming was "in an exceptionally senior position at the time and abused the trust that was placed in you by using keys entrusted to you to access the locked fridge to steal amyl nitrate".
