A NURSERY worker who ordered a little girl to hit another child and then told her to do it again 'harder' has been struck off the register.

An inquiry found Jenna Kincaid exposed eight or night children to ‘physical and emotional harm’ at Woodlands Day Nursery in Johnstone, Renfrewshire, where she was in charge of 2 and 3 year-olds.

One charge, which was found proved, states she instructed a girl to hit another child who had pushed her off a bike.

A witness described how the child was uncomfortable about the order and 'tapped the other child lightly on the arm.' Kincaid then told her to do it again, harder.

The nursery worker who was described as having 'poor impluse control' also grabbed children by the wrist and pulled them to the ground when they were crying and shouted at them, “three inches from their faces.”

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She told another one little boy if he didn’t stop crying he wold not get to the airport that evening to see his father and put her legs on top of a child’s leg whilst she was trying to get them to sleep.

At least seven charges against the nursery worker were found proved during a hearing by the Scottish Social Services Council.

The SSSC said she had shown only ‘limited insight’ into her actions and had abused the trust placed in her by parents and there was no evidence of remediation.

The council said:“Your actions as a whole demonstrated an abuse of the power which intimidated children.

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“Encouraging AA to hit BB was a clear breach of your duty to minimise the risk of children harming each other.

“Your actions constituted both physical and emotional abuse of service users.

“Your conduct involved not just one child but eight. You appear to have poor impulse control and difficulties in regulating your emotional responses."

"In all the circumstances, the Panel considers you are not suited to working with children in a day care service; and that the only proper sanction in your case is a Removal Order. This is necessary on grounds of public protection and is in the wider public interest.”

The nursery is now under new ownership and known as Gryffe Manor Nursery.