A DARENT Valley Hospital nurse who “fatally undermined” the profession by filming a teenage boy in the shower has been struck off.

News Shopper reported last year how adult nurse Mark Pennell, of Tooley Street, Gravesend, pleaded guilty to voyeurism at Dartford Magistrates' Court.

Thirty-eight-year-old Pennell, who had already been removed from his post following a disciplinary hearing, was ordered to attend 80 sessions at a sex offender work group, fined £500 and added to the Sex Offenders Register.

On April 11, Pennell appeared before the Nursing and Midwifery Council’s conduct and competence committee in London where he was banned from nursing for at least five years.

The panel heard how Pennell and the 18-year-old victim - who he had known for 16-years - attended a church camp in Peterborough last August.

Pennell purposely showered in the cubicle next to the victim and used his mobile phone to record him.

While showering the young man noticed Pennell’s phone on the floor of the cubicle with the camera pointing at him.

When the teenager tried to cover the phone with his boxer shorts, Pennell moved them.

As soon as the victim left the shower, he reported the incident to his parents.

Lucy McKinnon, defending Pennell, told the panel this was an “exceptional case” and suggested a caution could be issued to her client.

She said this had been a “one-off incident” and Pennell had “demonstrated strong feelings of moral responsibility, shame and remorse” afterwards.

The panel were presented with eight testimonials on behalf of Pennell, including five from former colleagues who “speak in the highest terms of his clinical competence and personal qualities.”

It is also stated Pennell’s behaviour was “totally out of character” and a “glowing” report was received from his latest manager.

The panel concluded: “Although this was an isolated incident, your actions displayed a significant degree of pre-planning and persistence.

It continued: “Nurses occupy a position of privilege and trust in society and are expected to be professional at all times.

“Trust is the bedrock of the relationship between the nursing profession and the public.

“The panel considers that your behaviour fatally undermined that trust.

“The panel considers that the public would not understand a situation where nursing care was being delivered by an individual who had so fundamentally breached positions of trust, whose name was on the Sex Offenders Register and who was currently undergoing a sex offenders programme.”

Pennell cannot reapply to be added to the nursing register for at least five years.

A Darent Valley Hospital spokesman added: “This isolated incident took place outside of the trust.

“No issues were raised concerning Mark’s conduct during the time that he worked at the hospital.

“However, staff conduct, both inside and outside of the organisation, should always be beyond reproach.

“Following an internal process regarding this matter it can be confirmed Mark no longer works at the hospital.”