A NURSE who bombarded a former colleague with offensive phone calls has been spared jail.

Kathleen Windle, 48, warned fellow nurse Gloria Softley "I will teach you a lesson" and told her "I will have the last laugh" during late night calls.

Windle made up to 30 calls between January and July last year while Mrs Softley was working nightshifts at Hebburn Court nursing home in South Tyneside.

Newcastle Crown Court heard how the women had originally been friends as well as colleagues and would work shifts overnight together.

But in late 2006 they fell out and complaints were made by both women against each other.

This resulted in Windle, a state registered nurse with over 20 years experience, being sacked from the home, and the telephone hate campaign began.

The court heard Windle branded Mrs Softley an "evil devil" and an "evil woman" during the calls.

Windle, of Black Road, Hebburn, admitted harassment at an earlier hearing.

Her barrister Glen Gatland told the court how Windle was left in financial difficulty by the loss of her £20,000 plus job.

Mr Gatland said: "She felt extremely angry about Gloria Softley and still does feel angry about Gloria Softley.

"She feels lies have been told about her and feels to a degree she is the victim in all this because Gloria Softley continued working while she lost her job.

"However, she has acknowledged by her guilty plea she was wrong to make the telephone calls that she did at night.

"She accepts that was not a way to properly behave."

The court heard Windle has a history of depressive illness and has been in no trouble before or since.

Judge David Hodson sentenced her to a community order for twelve months with supervision.

The judge told her: "This has been a long and extremely sorry saga for you and your family, I think the least said about it all soonest mended."

Windle was made the subject of a restraining order for two years which bans her from having any contact with Mrs Softley.

The judge warned her: "If you fail to comply with the restraining order you are liable to be brought back here and the penalty for a breach is a period of imprisonment."