A NURSE who ridiculed the Pope in front of a devout Catholic and left her in tears was struck off yesterday.

Pauline Green, 49, ridiculed the patient's religion, and on one occasion a carer had to grab Green's hand to stop her poking a male victim in the eye.

The committee heard how the 56 elderly residents at the Lindisfarne Nursing and Residential Care Home, at Chester-le-Street, County Durham, lived in fear.

David Glendinning, for the Nursing and Midwifery Council, told the panel how Green twisted the nose of an 86-year-old wheelchair-bound dementia sufferer who had sworn at her.

Care assistant Cynthia Macura told the hearing: "Green grabbed him by the nose and twisted it round, and I said: 'Don't'.

"She put her fingers out, and when she went to poke him in the eyes I grabbed her arm and said: 'Don't, it's awful'."

Mrs Macura said Green then told her: "I believe you do unto others as they do unto you."

The committee heard how Green would often laugh at the religious devotion of a 96-year-old Catholic woman.

She would tell the patient, Resident B, the Pope had committed sex acts.

Another care assistant, Valerie Driscoll, told the panel: "Mrs B was a staunch Catholic and Green would say in her ear that the Pope had been getting young girls pregnant, and this upset her.

"Sometimes there were tears in Mrs B's eyes."

Mrs Macura also recalled how, on several occasions, she would say: "The Pope has got someone pregnant and is saving up for a pushchair."

When the allegations came to the attention of home manager Margaret Roe, she called Green in for an interview - but she refused to attend.

Green told her boss: "I can't remember what I had for breakfast, let alone what happened the week before."

The nurse had denied two charges of misconduct but was found guilty and struck off the nurses' register.

Chairwoman Ann Kelly said: 'The nature of misconduct does not justify trust and confidence.

"You failed to recognise the uniqueness and dignity of a patient, and did not respond to her religious beliefs in an appropriate manner."

Green, who received two verbal warnings for abusing patients' relatives, also worked at Ashborne Healthcare, Barnes Court, Sunderland.