A NIGHT shift nurse who denied abusing elderly residents at a Suffolk care home has been cleared of the disputed allegations.Judith Marion Clark, 60, denied all but two of the accusations which stem from her job at Wellington House Nursing Home, Finborough Road, Stowmarket, between October 1996 and May 2001.

A NIGHT shift nurse who denied abusing elderly residents at a Suffolk care home has been cleared of the disputed allegations.

Judith Marion Clark, 60, denied all but two of the accusations which stem from her job at Wellington House Nursing Home, Finborough Road, Stowmarket, between October 1996 and May 2001.

Mrs Clark, of Sparrows Nest Barn, Lower Road, Onehouse, Stowmarket, failed to appear for her resumed hearing before the Nursing and Midwifery Council's Professional Conduct Committee in London yesterday, because of "depression and anxiety".

The committee described Mrs Clark as 'credible witness' and chairwoman Nancy Kirkland said: "On the evidence before us we are not satisfied nurse Clark's behaviour involved roughness with patients."

She said the abusive language used by Mrs Clark, although not in the hearing of patients, amounted to misconduct.

The nurse was suspended after an internal investigation on May 2001.

Mrs Clark's lawyer Miss Gulliver, said: "My client has had a nursing career spanning nearly forty years and these are two incidents of a limited nature. "She is currently not working as a nurse. As a result of these allegations she has been suffering from anxiety and depression."

Mrs Clark received an official caution and Mrs Kirkland said: "We accept that she has had a long and unblemished nursing career."

It was alleged Mrs Clark spoke harshly, shouted aggressively and talked inappropriate to five male and female residents aged in their 80's and 90's and treated some of them roughly.