A nurse who placed her hand over the mouth of a paralysed elderly woman and pinched her nose shut has been struck off.

Sosamma Saji told the woman to close her mouth because her "breath stinks" before covering her airways on two occasions.

The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) heard Ms Saji was convicted of assaulting the woman, referred to as Resident G, over the incidents at Blenham House care home in Edinburgh.

Ms Saji further admitted at an NMC hearing to slapping two other elderly residents in the face.

During an NMC hearing last month she attempted to save her career in the profession but a panel ruled she had broken the "fundamental tenets" of nursing.

During a night shift at the 60-bed care home in Sighthill around December 2014, she entered the room of Resident G.

A care assistant saw Ms Saji place her hand over the resident's mouth and pinch her nose.

According to the care assistant's evidence, Ms Saji said "Oh close your bloody mouth woman, your breath is bloody well stinking."

Another care assistant at the home described a similar incident on January 5, 2015.

Ms Saji again covered Resident G's mouth and said "your breath is stinking."

She immediately removed her hand after being confronted by the care assistant.

The matter was reported to the care home's management and police were called.

In October 2015, she was convicted of two counts of assault at Edinburgh Sheriff Court and fined £750.

The NMC hearing was told she also slapped two residents across the face in late 2014 and early 2015.

In one case, she had been slapped by an elderly resident who was known to be aggressive and responded by slapping him back. In the other she slapped an elderly man who had grabbed her wrist.

Colleagues at the care home gave evidence at the hearing, saying they were shocked by her actions.

The NMC panel told Ms Saji: "By your own admission, you assaulted two elderly and vulnerable residents with dementia and debilitating physical conditions.

"You were the nurse in charge of these residents and were accordingly responsible for their safeguarding and care and for setting a good example to the care assistants with whom you worked.

"Your actions in slapping the residents across the face constituted serious failings in fundamental aspects of nursing care such as making the residents' safety and care your first concern and treating them with the kindness, consideration, respect and dignity they deserved."

In relation to her convictions, the panel said other nurses would find her actions "deplorable"

The NMC's case presenter Yusuf Segovia said four assaults on three vulnerable residents "represented a pattern of behaviour which was an aggravating factor."

Ms Saji's lawyer told the hearing she had been a nurse of good standing for 20 years before the incidents took place, and her actions had been influenced by a health condition she had been suffering at the time.

She had admitted the charges of slapping the residents as well as her assault conviction.

The panel found she had not shown genuine remorse for her conduct and ruled she be struck off the nursing register.