A NURSE who grabbed a mentally-ill patient in a headlock and pushed him to the ground has been struck off.

Reginald John Butler, of Darwen, "lost control" in an acute psychiatric ward after the sedated patient mumbled a threat and brushed against him, the Nursing and Midwifery Council heard.

The 55-year-old trained nurse grabbed the schizophrenic man around the neck and twisted him to the floor, as he repeatedly yelled and swore at him, the hearing was told.

Butler was working as the deputy ward manager in Calder Ward at Queens Park Hospital, Blackburn, when the incident took place on August 8, 2004.

Shocked colleagues intervened - but Butler roughly grabbed the man again by the head a few minutes later as they tried to take the furious patient to his room, the NMC heard.

Butler was struck off the nursing register after the panel found him guilty of professional misconduct.

Rachel Birks, for the NMC, told the hearing how Butler attacked the man about a week after the same patient spat at him on another ward. "Calder Ward was a six-bedded intensive care ward for patients with a significant level of mental health disturbance who cannot be looked after on an open psychiatric ward," she said.

At about 2pm, Butler and nurse Marie Sampson were both charged with observing the 6ft disturbed man, referred to as Patient A, the hearing was told.

Ms Sampson told the hearing how she and Butler, known by his middle name John, followed Patient A to the garden area.

She said: "He mumbled something to John Butler, and John said are you threatening me?''' she said. "I remember trying to de-escalate things as it was quite aggressive the way he said it." She said she took Patient A to a chair, but he refused to sit. Patient A put his hand out and it brushed John on his stomach, as if to move someone out of the way.

"The next thing I remember John just lost control. He got him in a headlock and brought him to the floor." she said.

Butler was dismissed from the hospital on January 31, 2005.

Committee chairman Andrew Popperwell said Butler had seriously breached the codes of conduct about protecting patient safety, and his abusive actions showed he was a 'continuing risk to the public'.

Butler will now be banned from working as a nurse.