Sleeping Cornwall care home nurse Nigel Ellis struck off 21 December 2013 Last updated at 01:00 A nurse who switched off people's alarms in a care home so he could sleep on his night shift has been struck off. Nigel Ellis was found asleep on three night shifts at Caprera House in St Austell, Cornwall, a panel heard. On one occasion cleaners found he had disconnected mats that alerted staff if residents left their beds because, he said, "they were always going off." The Nursing and Midwifery Council said he should be struck off the nursing register. The panel heard Ellis had started working at Caprera House, which cares for elderly and disabled people, on 5 March 2012. Threatened colleague The following night he was found asleep while on shift by a health care assistant. The panel heard he had later threatened the member of staff and told her to keep quite in the future. And when cleaners arrived on 26 March they found bed pressure mats that sounded an alarm if a resident got out of bed were disconnected and Ellis was asleep on a sofa. He admitted he turned them off to stop them from going off in the night. Barbara Stuart, chairman of the Nursing and Midwifery Council panel, said striking Ellis's name from the register was "the only sanction which is sufficient." Ellis, who was not present at the hearing, had admitted the allegations and indicated he no longer wished to practise as a nurse.