A NURSE who tried to scupper the sex abuse trial of her husband by interfering with a witness has been spared jail, but faces the sack.

Mother-of-three Maria Mallari left court in tears after she was given a suspended jail sentence after a judge accepted she was full of regret.

Last night, the University Hospital of Hartlepool could not say whether she would keep her job as an orthopaedic unit nurse.

Mallari's 39-year-old husband, Virgillio, was accused of multiple sex offences when she tried to intervene in the case, last summer.

He was found guilty after a trial last year and was awaiting sentence when he was found hanged in Holme House Prison, in Stockton, days before Christmas.

Mallari was said to have been "in turmoil and overwhelmed by her emotions" when she tried to get the victim to retract the statement she made to police.

A court heard that 43-year-old Mallari bought the victim a oneway plane ticket out of the country and forged a letter saying her allegations were false.

Christine Egerton, in mitigation, said Mallari felt bewildered by the allegations and said: "She described how her head was exploding at that time."

Miss Egerton said Mallari, who came to the UK from the Philippines in 2001, was well-respected as a senior staff nurse at the hospital.

Teesside Crown Court was told that the North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Trust was waiting until the outcome of the case before it considered her position.

The Northern Echo contacted the trust last night, but was told no one could answer the question about Mallari's future.

Mallari, of Bacon Walk, Hartlepool, admitted attempting to pervert the course of justice.

She was given a nine-month jail sentence, suspended for two years, and was ordered to carry out 120 hours of unpaid work for the community.

Her husband, who worked as an electrician in the Philippines, got a job as a cleaner and then a caterer at the hospital in Hartlepool.