A paramedic who posed as a nurse to steal painkillers from dying patients to fuel her drug addiction has been struck off.

Jessica Silvester from Margate, along with her fiancée Ruth Lambert, targeted 29 homes during lockdown and took the vital medication from patients receiving end-of-life care.

The pair, who both worked for the ambulance service, traded WhatsApp messages identifying potential victims, then posed as nurses to con them and their families.

On one occasion they even targeted a woman’s family for morphine just hours after she died.

They were sentenced to five years in prison at Canterbury Crown Court in January last year.

Now a hearing held by the Health and Care Professions Tribunal Service has ordered Silvester’s name to be struck off the register.

The panel examined the evidence against Silvester, who did not attend the hearing, and made the decision based on her “lack of insight and the lack of steps she has taken to remedy her conviction”.

It found she breached the standards expected of her as a paramedic by being involved with a “very serious conspiracy and campaign of burglary of some of the most helpless and vulnerable patients”.

It also discussed the fact that since being sentenced, Silvester had not shown remorse for her crimes and has “not taken the opportunity to recognise her shortcomings and apologise” to the victims and their families.

Summing up the evidence, the panel concluded: “Based on the registrant’s lack of insight and the nature and gravity of the allegation, that to ensure public confidence in the paramedic profession and in the HCPC as its regulatory body is maintained, and in order to uphold proper standards of conduct in the profession, it is appropriate and proportionate to order that the registrant’s name be struck off the register.”

A separate hearing examining Lambert's role in the crimes is yet to conclude.

Lambert self-medicated to help forget trauma and treat physical pain which she suffered since childhood.

She slowly became addicted after first trying a patient’s left-over morphine.

Silvester then became addicted to opiates after they were given to her by Lambert in response to physical and mental trauma she experienced during her career as a paramedic.

To feed their addictions, Lambert and Silvester began targeting the homes during lockdown.

Lambert would infiltrate the homes, sometimes asking patients for a glass of water then raiding the medicine cabinet.

On other occasions she would insist the drugs were out of date or, failing that, simply run away with the medication.

Colin Singleton’s home was targeted hours after his wife Linda died having suffered with terminal cancer.

The retired construction boss called it a “callous and cruel crime” which, having delayed his grieving process, was “shocking beyond belief”.

“Linda, my wife for 30 years, lost her battle with cancer, about two hours later I received a call from a district nurse who said they had to collect my wife’s drugs," he told Canterbury Crown Court last year.

After calling the hospital the following day it became apparent they were victims of crime.

Meanwhile Silvester would mine data from NHS databases, the pair colluding over WhatsApp for new targets.

Along with the drugs, the tribunal also heard how Silvester stole medical equipment including a portable ultrasound machine believed to be worth £14,000.