A TROUBLED nurse who was upset about being demoted poured petrol over her body and set herself alight.

Rachel Allport, who had a history of self-harm and had talked about committing suicide, was found dead in her Swindon flat on May 30 last year.

Yesterday an inquest into her death heard that on the day of her death the 42-year-old Great Western Hospital staff nurse had been sent home on sick leave.

She was unhappy at being downgraded to the post of auxiliary nurse after she broke hospital rules.

In the month before her death Miss Allport had given a patient an injection when she was not qualified to do so, in breach of the nursing code of conduct and hospital policy.

She had also given another patient double the quantity of drugs than was necessary.

In a statement read to the inquest senior nurse manager, Margaret Jordan, who described Miss Allport as a caring nurse who got on well with patients, said Miss Allport had admitted puncturing her hands with needles and thinking about suicide.

After taking holiday leave Miss Allport was told she could return to the GWH as an auxiliary nurse under strict monitoring.

But she was unhappy with the arrangement and feared how people would react.

On May 30 she was found to have performed a pump check against hospital rules and was sent home on sick leave.

Later that day Miss Allport spoke to her mum, Diane, on the phone and made plans for the next weekend.

But shortly after 6.30pm she set herself alight in the bedroom of her flat in Whitworth Road, and died of smoke inhalation.

Police officers arriving at the scene noticed the flat smelled of petrol. They discovered Miss Allport's body on her bed, near a five-litre can of petrol and a cigarette lighter.

The house was smoke-logged and the bedroom was damaged in the fire.

At yesterday's inquest Swindon Deputy Coroner Richard van Oppen said there was no evidence of anyone else being involved and recorded a verdict of suicide.

"We know Rachel took her own life. She was disturbed at the time and had made previous attempts on her life and she intended to take her own life," he said.

Paul Bentley, a spokesman for the Swindon and Marlborough NHS Trust, which runs the Great Western Hospital, said: "The Trust is deeply saddened by the premature death in May 2003 of our colleague.

"Miss Allport's colleagues deeply regret what has happened and they hope the outcome of the inquest will give her family some peace and closure."

Andy Tate