A FORMER Tenbury Wells man, convicted of attempting to blackmail Tesco by injecting food with AIDS contaminated blood, has been struck off the professional register of nurses.

Francis Riolfo, aged 57, formerly of Newnham Bridge, now of Saltash, Cornwall, was sentenced to six years' gaol in 1995 after being found guilty of two counts of blackmail by Northampton Crown Court.

Last Friday, the Professional Conduct Committee of the Nursing and Midwifery Council heard that Mr Riolfo, who did not attend the hearing, had again been working as a nurse, this time in Plymouth, and had failed to declare his conviction to authorities at a Plymouth hospital.

He had resigned as a registered nurse just days before the committee was due to decide on his fitness to continue practising.

The committee was told that checks at the Criminal Records Bureau had not been done and that Mr Riolfo had admitted he had deliberately falsified the application form.

The committee chairman, Jonathan Asbridge said it had been decided to remove Mr Riolfo's name from the register indefinitely.

"We appreciate you have served your sentence and paid your debt to society," he said.

"However, we have heard evidence that you dishonestly failed to disclose it (your previous conviction) when you obtained your post from your previous employer."

"So serious was the crime of which you have been convicted and so reprehensible were many aspects of it that, in our opinion, public trust and confidence in the profession would be seriously damaged if we were to permit you to remain on the register."