Jail nurse who despatched ‘delete chats lads, sensible heads on’ textual content struck off after cellphone discovered
Kimberley Finn worked as an agency nurse at HMP Durham when she passed a package containing a mobile phone to a prisoner, leading to her conviction and removal from the nursing register
Kimberly Finn was struck off(Image: ROCU)
A nurse has been struck off following her conviction for smuggling a mobile into prison. Kimberley Finn, who worked at HMP Durham on an agency basis, received a nine-month suspended sentence in January 2025 after agreeing to pass a package to a prisoner during a consultation, intended for another inmate.
Newcastle Crown Court heard that Finn was caught out when a cell search at HMP Northumberland in August 2022 uncovered a phone containing chats about drugs and contraband. It is understood that the phone’s owner had been a schoolmate of Finn’s.
Now, the Nursing and Midwifery Council panel has ruled that Finn, from Boldon Colliery, tarnished the nursing profession’s reputation as she was “a significant participant in a conspiracy involving several other people to introduce a banned item to a prison”. She pleaded guilty to conspiracy to convey prohibited articles into prison in court, and her nine-month jail term was suspended for 18 months with rehabilitation requirements.
Finn was sentenced alongside seven others involved in a scheme to smuggle drugs into HMP Northumberland and HMP Durham. However, she faced no drug-related charges, reports the Mirror.
The discovered conversations on the phone included a message from Finn stating: “Delete chats lads, wise heads on.”
Taking into account Miss Finn’s significant breach of trust and her own understanding that what she was doing was illegal, the panel found that maintenance of public confidence in the nursing profession required a finding of impairment as does upholding the proper standards of conduct and behaviour required of a registered nurse,” the ruling said.
“The panel determined that members of the public would be appalled if a registered nurse were not found impaired in circumstances where the nurse had abused their position of trust in this way.”
The panel did acknowledge that Finn had entered a guilty plea and had made early admissions of guilt.
She had also demonstrated good character and there had been no harm caused to a patient.
However, it was determined that anything short of a striking-off order would be “disproportionate to the gravity of the offence” and “insufficient to address public interest concerns”.
The decision results in Finn’s name being struck from the Register, barring her from practising as a nursing associate, midwife or registered nurse.
