A FORMER psychiatric nurse from Burnley who torched her own home with her little girl inside has been allowed to return to the profession by a watchdog.

Paula Ward, then 38, set two fires at her home in Greenbrook Close after downing a litre-and-a-half of vodka and was jailed for two years for arson.

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She was rescued unharmed along with her then eight-year-old daughter Miller from the first floor of the property. Ward was later questioned and charged by police after it was found two separate fires had been set in the garage and hallway.

Ward, 42, was initially banned from working as a nurse for 12 months, in July 2012, by the Nursing and Midwifery Council, after they ruled it was ‘in the public interest’ for ‘a serious criminal offence’. Since then she had still had restrictions placed on her registration.

But the nurse applied to be reinstated to the nursing register, informing them that while she currently worked as a healthcare assistant, for a bank service, she wanted to return fully to the profession.

She told a conduct and competence committee hearing that the arson offence had come at a ‘horrible time’ in her personal life, which would ‘never happen again’.

Ward had made a number of job applications, she said, and undergone a few successful interviews but the restrictions on her registration had prevented her from returning to nursing.

She told the committee that she had kept up-to-date with the latest developments in nursing, through industry publications, and had undertaken a number of internet training courses.

Ruling that the conditions,which expired on March 1, should be permanently removed, NMC panel chairman David Flinter said it was noted that there had never been any concern about Ward’s clinical skills and she had made efforts to rehabilitate herself.

Mr Flinter added: “The panel carefully considered your submissions, and is satisfied that you have fully acknowledged your actions. It is very unlikely that there will be repetition.”