A POLICE officer has returned to work after being cleared of assaulting a nurse.

PC Neil Chisholm was alleged to have assaulted the woman at the University Hospital of Hartlepool, on February 14 last year.

The 24-year-old officer had pleaded not guilty on the 13 occasions the case went before the court.

PC Chisholm, of Pentland Close, Peterlee, east Durham, did not appear at Teesside Magistrates' Court yesterday to hear the charge formally dropped.

The court clerk told magistrates that the Crown Prosecution Service had written to the court last month to say it was discontinuing the proceedings.

Gerry Sydenham, a senior lawyer from Northumbria Crown Prosecution Service, defended the decision to withdraw the charge nearly a year and half after the alleged incident.

He said: "We take very seriously any allegations of assaults on NHS staff and, providing there is sufficient evidence, will prosecute those responsible.

"All cases are subject to continuous review and, in this case, expert medical evidence received after Mr Chisholm was charged meant that there was no longer a realistic prospect of conviction."

The chief executive of North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Trust, Ian Dalton, said: "While it would be inappropriate to speculate on the outcome, I am in active discussions with NHS Security Management Services' legal protection unit on this matter."

PC Chisholm was suspended from duty following the allegation, but the officer has now returned to work.

A Cleveland Police spokesman said: "I can confirm PC Chisholm returned to work after the CPS said there was insufficient evidence for the trial to go ahead."