'Arrogant' nurse faces life sentence for UK murders

A nurse who murdered four frail patients with huge doses of the diabetes drug insulin will be jailed for life today.

Staff nurse Colin Norris (aged 32), from Egilsay Terrace, Glasgow, killed the vulnerable women in 2002 while working at two Leeds hospitals.

He was convicted yesterday following a lengthy trial at Newcastle Crown Court, and was also found guilty of attempting to murder another woman.

A life sentence is mandatory in murder cases. Mr Justice Griffith Williams will indicate to Norris the period he must remain behind bars before he can apply for parole.

Norris, described by West Yorkshire Police as “extremely arrogant”, showed no emotion when the jury foreman read out each of the guilty verdicts.

Detectives said he showed no remorse for killing Doris Ludlam, 80, Bridget Bourke, 88, Irene Crookes, 79 and Ethel Hall, 86, while he worked at the Leeds General Infirmary (LGI) and the city’s St James’s Hospital.

He also tried to kill Vera Wilby, 90, but she survived the coma which followed the unnecessary insulin injection.

Police began an investigation after Dr Emma Ward noticed in November 2002 that Mrs Hall had slipped into a hypoglycaemic coma despite not being a diabetic.

Blood tests showed she had insulin levels 12 times the norm, and she died three weeks later.

Detectives looked at other deaths on the wards from comas when Norris was working and after a lengthy investigation found that by the time Dr Ward raised her concerns, he had already killed three times, and failed with one attempt.

Detective Chief Superintendent Chris Gregg said after the verdict that Norris had been growing in confidence, and only the vigilance of Dr Ward prevented his six-month murder spree from continuing.

The nearest the prosecution came to outlining a motive was to suggest that Norris disliked working with the elderly.

All his victims were frail after suffering from hip problems, and they could all be considered a burden to nursing staff.