A dental nurse has been sacked for misconduct after lying about a caution for cocaine possession in her registration form.

Sarah Jane Henry, who worked at Naidu and Naidu in Gubbins Lane, Harold Wood, admitted to the offence at a two-day General Dental Council (GDC) hearing last week.

She also failed to tell the GDC about a 2013 conviction for retaining wrongful credit to the tune of £10,000, and did not cooperate with an investigation into her health that was launched last year.

The GDC’s Professional Conduct Committee (PCC) told her: “We considered that your multiple acts of misconduct, dishonesty, your police caution, your convictions, and your failure to comply with your regulator bring the profession into disrepute.

“The convictions in this case relate to you having been dishonest with the intention of making a gain for yourself, which amounted to approximately £10,000.”

The charges brought by the GDC were over a police caution in 2008 for possession of cocaine and the fact Henry did not declare it in her GDC application later that year – she answered “no” when asked if she had ever had a criminal conviction or caution.

She told the hearing she couldn’t remember why she answered no, and explained she had agreed to get the cocaine for a friend but was arrested before she could hand it over.

During the hearing, she also faced charges relating to her criminal conviction of 15 counts of dishonestly retaining a wrongful credit between January 2012 and February 2013.

When convicted of that in 2013, she was slapped with a 12-month community order and undertook 80 hours unpaid work in 2013.

She told the committee she knew she should have told South-on-Sea Council about a change in circumstances relating to the money she was receiving but her ex partner had told her not to.

She also admitted not cooperating with the council when an investigation was launched into her health.

She said she needed to put herself first and sort through issues in her personal life, and “buried her head in the sand”.

The committee was not satisfied that Henry, who asked for a second chance, had accepted accountability for her actions.

Unless she appeals she will be struck off the register in 28 days.