July 2012

Nurse struck off after being jailed for having 12,000 child abuse images

A male nurse who was caught with over 12,000 still and video images of children being sexually abused has been struck off.

Andrew Sandford, 37, was found to have a cache of 12,270 images, including babies and toddlers, on a computer.

The former geriatric nurse at Glasgow’s Victoria Hospital is currently serving a 53-month sentence.

The Nursing and Midwifery Council banned him from the profession at a hearing in London on Monday.

Papers from the hearing state: “Mr Sandford’s actions, which gave rise to his serious criminal conviction, cause concerns over his ability to practice safely around children and young people.

“The panel consider that there would be a real risk to patients were Mr Sandford allowed to continue to practise without restriction.”

During his trial last year at the High Court in Edinburgh the jury heard how Sandford was caught after Strathclyde Police received intelligence that he had accessed a website with child abuse images via the internet from his former family home in Heys Street, Barrhead, in East Renfrewshire.

The haul of images on his computer was soon identified and was found to have been downloaded between November 2006 and September last year.

The married nurse was detained by the police at his workplace.

Sentencing him at the High Court in Edinburgh in June last year, Lord Turnbull stated: “The nature and detail of the conduct perpetrated against young children and babies which features in your collection of images is quite shocking.”

He added: “These are visual records of the actual and truly horrific sexual abuse and rape of children and babies by adults.”