A NORTH CUMBRIAN nurse has been sanctioned in a malpractice hearing after admitting to posting an offensive image on social media, in the wake of the Southport killings of July 2024.
Members of the Nursing and Midwifery Council Fitness to Practise Committee gathered in December 2025 to consider four charges against Sara Worthington, community staff nurse at North Cumbria Integrated Care.
She was given a caution, which will remain in force for five years after admitting to two charges and a further two charges brought against her were considered proven by the committee.
Ms Worthington admitted to two of four charges prior to the hearing in a discussion with the NHS trust's Community Quality Matron.
She admitted to reposting an image to her Facebook and Instagram accounts which "shows four bearded men who appear of Asian heritage wearing traditional Muslim clothing running along the street in an agitated and threatening manner, with one of the said men carrying a knife."
The committee report adds: "The four men are behind an image of a child of toddler age who appears white skinned who is crying wearing a tee-shirt with a union flag on it. Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament can be identified in the background."
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Charge one was that Ms Worthington reposted the images and charge two was that they included offensive text which she did not create.
The images were posted in July 2024 following stabbings at a Taylor-Swift themed dance and yoga event in Southport.
Axel Rudakubana, who had previously been referred to the counter extremism service Prevent, stabbed and killed three children, seriously wounding eight others, as well as two adults.
Both charges against Ms Worthington were considered proven from the outset as she had admitted to them, however, the case presenter amended the charges, adding that her actions were racially and/or religiously motivated.
Committee members considered charges three and four to be proven, charge three that the nurse's conduct "was an incitement to violence and/or discrimination" and charge four, that her conduct "was racially and/or religiously motivated."
Specifically, the panel found that the charges were racially motivated, but not religiously motivated as "although the men in the offensive image were dressed in traditional Muslim clothing, there was no overt or explicit reference to a religion in the image."
While Ms Worthington admitted to posting the image, she disputed the alleged motivations, arguing that it was not intended to be racist or religiously motivated.
Ms Worthington argued in the hearing that she does not pose a risk to patients and treats "every patient with respect and kindness," the post, she contended, was made because she sympathised with the victims of the attack.
She later deleted the posts and "had been remorseful ever since."
When deciding on an appropriate sanction, the committee took into account that Ms Worthington has done everything that could be expected of her to make amends for the incident.
She told the committee that she has taken full accountability following the incident, the consequences of which had been "a big learning curve."
The panel heard that there is "no way" she would repeat her actions, that it was a completely isolated incident and she does not hold any deep-seated views.
A caution was found to be an appropriate sanction as there was "no public protection risk in this case."
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