03/03/2008

Nurse Found Guilty Of Patient Murders

A male nurse has been found guilty of the murder of four elderly patients at two hospitals in Leeds.

Colin Norris, 31, from Glasgow, was found guilty of the murders of four female patients - Ethel Hall, 86, from Calverley, Leeds, Doris Ludlum, 80, from Pudsey and Bridget Bourke, 88, from Holbeck at Leeds General Infirmary and Irene Crooks, 79, from Leeds, at St James's Hospital - in 2002. He was also found guilty of the attempted murder of another patient - Vera Wilby, 90, from Rawdon, at Leeds General Infirmary.

Norris had denied all the charges.

During the five-month trial at Newcastle Crown Court, the jury heard that Norris first attracted suspicion when he predicted the death of Mrs Hall. Mrs Hall, who had been recovering from hip surgery at the time of her death, later slipped into a fatal coma and test results revealed insulin levels 12 times higher than the normal level in her body. The prosecution had claimed that these were caused by injections administered by Norris.

Following the death of Mrs Hall, police began investigating other patient deaths.

Norris is due to be sentenced on Tuesday.

(KMcA)




Related UK National News Stories
Click here for the latest headlines.

04 March 2008
Life Sentence For Killer Nurse
A male nurse who murdered four elderly patients and attempted to murder a fifth at two hospitals in Leeds has been jailed for life. Colin Norris, 32, from Egilsay Terrace in Glasgow, was given four life sentences with a minimum term of 30 years for each of the murders and a 20-year sentence to run concurrently for attempted murder.
03 June 2011
Healthcare Staff Get Innovative
Frontline NHS staff and other healthcare professionals who come up with innovative ideas to give better patient care are getting their schemes funded thanks to the Department of Health’s Innovation Challenge Prizes. The first winners have been announced today.
16 May 2011
Training Reforms Threaten Patient Care, Says Junior Doctors Leader


Government reforms of medical training could threaten patient care as much as anything in the Health and Social Care Bill, Dr Shree Datta, Co-Chair of the BMA’s Junior Doctors Committee has warned.
06 November 2009
Working Directive 'Harming' Doctor Training
Restrictions on the working hours of doctors may be compromising surgical education and patient care, warn two senior US surgeons in an article published on bmj.com today. Gretchen Purcell Jackson and John Tarpley argue that greater flexibility is needed in applying these regulations.
03 November 2004
Patient care set to benefit from £40m Microsoft investment
The NHS is to benefit from a £40 million development effort by Microsoft Corporation to develop a health specific user interface for clinical systems which will improve patient care and safety across the NHS, it was announced today.