A NURSE allowed a mother to switch off a ventilator, which may have left her with the overwhelming guilt that she killed her daughter.

Consultant Dr Stephen Cook was "appalled" when Sister Kathleen Atkinson told him she let Angela Marsh turn off the ventilator when told her daughter Claire had died.

An inquest heard how Ms Atkinson, 51, of Wallsend, Tyneside, made the admission during a disciplinary hearing into claims that she had withheld treatment from patients.

Bosses at the intensive care unit at Newcastle Royal Victoria Infirmary discovered a catalogue of errors. It was found she made consistent breaches of guidelines, which led to her sacking in March 1996.

Leukaemia sufferer Claire, 14, died on December 29, 1994, weeks after a bone marrow transplant.

Dr Cook told a Newcastle inquest: "People may feel they have killed their relative and may feel remorse and guilt, which could cause long-term problems."

He criticised an alleged decision by Ms Atkinson to halt the treatment of dying patien tGladys Ward, 77, and an unauthorised morphine injection to dying 69-year-old Mary Burdon.

After her sacking, police charged Ms Atkinson with two counts of attempted murder, which were dropped due to conflicting evidence.

The files were submitted to the Home Office and Home Secretary Jack Straw ordered an inquest into four suspicious deaths at the unit including Claire Marsh, Mary Burdon, Gladys Ward and 15-year-old burns victim Patricia Dryden.

The inquest continues.