A NURSE who sexually assaulted two taxi drivers has escaped a permanent ban from the profession.

John McIlvenny rubbed both drivers’ thighs while making sexually explicit comments during separate journeys.

The nurse claimed he had no memory of the incidents, which happened after he left a bar in Greenock, because he had been drinking and was on medication.

An inquiry by the Nursing and Midwifery Council was told that he he rubbed the thighs of two male taxi drivers, squeezing one of them, while making sexually explicit comments.

He was convicted on August 8 2016 at Greenock Sheriff Court of two offences under Section 3 of the Sexual Offences Scotland Act 2009.

He was placed on the Sex Offenders Register for three years and given a community payback order and suspended from his job for 18 months.

Mr McIlvenny was not present for a hearing by the Nursing and Midwifery Council to decide his fate.

The inquiry panel noted that Mr McIlvenny has been a practising nurse since 1991 and this was an isolated incident, on August 12, 2015, whilst under the influence of alcohol, in an

otherwise unblemished career.

The panel took into account that Mr McIlvenny very promptly reported both the charges and his convictions to the NMC and had enrolled on a rehabilitative programme for sex offenders.

However they said: “The public have a right to expect that a registered nurse will uphold the standards of conduct and behaviour expected of them and adhere to the laws of the country.

“In this case, Mr McIlvenny has failed to do so.

“The panel is satisfied that in this case a suspension order for a period of four months whilst serving to mark the seriousness of Mr McIlvenny’s behaviour leading to his convictions,

would also afford him the opportunity to further reflect upon these events and to demonstrate insight.”

A spokeswoman for NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde said Mr McIlvenny was not working for the board.