Nursing and Midwifery Council determination — substantive hearing
NMC strikes off nursing associate Anthony Nethercott over attempted child sex convictions
A Nursing and Midwifery Council panel has struck nursing associate Anthony Nethercott off the register after Bristol Crown Court convicted him of three attempted child sexual offences. The panel also imposed an 18-month interim suspension order to cover the appeal period.
MedicWatch editorial · Published 14 August 2026 · Updated 18 August 2026
Erasure (struck off the register)
Added to MedicWatch: 17 August 2026Report a correction
What does “struck off the register” mean?
Being struck off (the regulator calls this "erasure") removes the practitioner from the register. They are no longer permitted to practise this profession in the UK. Erasure can be reviewed after a minimum of five years, but is otherwise indefinite.
Concerning Anthony Nethercott, nursing associate (Nursing and Midwifery Council 24C0875E).
Decision date: 14 August 2026 · Hearing started 14 August 2026
In plain English
The NMC's Fitness to Practise Committee found nursing associate Anthony Nethercott's fitness to practise impaired by his criminal convictions. Bristol Crown Court convicted him on 23 October 2025 of attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child, attempting to cause a child aged 13 to 15 to watch an image of sexual activity, and attempting to cause a female aged 13 or over to engage in penetrative sexual activity. The panel struck him off the register and imposed an 18-month interim suspension order.
Charges
That you, a registered nurse: 1) On 23 October 2025 were convicted at Bristol Crown Court for the following offences: a) Attempt to engage in sexual communication with a child; b) Attempt to cause a child aged 13 to 15 to watch/look at an image of sexual activity; c) Attempt to cause a female aged 13 or over to engage in a penetrative sexual activity. And in light of the above, your fitness to practise is impaired by reason of your convictions. The panel recorded that Mr Nethercott was sentenced to eight months' imprisonment suspended for 12 months, a rehabilitation activity requirement of up to 25 days, notification requirements for 10 years, and a sexual harm prevention order until 22 October 2030.
Findings
The panel found charge 1 proved by way of the Certificate of Conviction from the Crown Court at Bristol, pursuant to Rule 31(2) and (3) of the Rules; Mr Nethercott had admitted the charges in his Case Management Form. The panel found his fitness to practise currently impaired on both public protection and public interest grounds. It determined that the convictions were specified offences at the most serious end of the spectrum, that the concerns went to integrity, judgement and behaviour rather than clinical competence, that his insight was limited and the concerns had not been remedied, and that there remained a high likelihood of repetition. The panel imposed a striking-off order, concluding that public confidence in the profession could not be maintained if Mr Nethercott were not removed from the register, and imposed an interim suspension order for 18 months to cover the 28-day appeal period.
Mitigating and aggravating factors
Mitigating factors
An early guilty plea in the criminal courts and admissions of the facts.
Aggravating factors
Limited insight; premeditated behaviour; predatory behaviour; and deliberate breaches of the NMC Code of Conduct.
Source
All facts on this page are drawn from the publicly published Nursing and Midwifery Council determination linked below. MedicWatch does not editorialise the regulator’s findings.
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