Fresh medical evidence in the case of the nurse called the "Angel of Death" and jailed for life for the murders of four patients in a Leedshospital eight years ago is to be passed to the Criminal Cases Review Commission. The case has similarities to that of Rebecca Leighton, the nurse arrested on suspicion of murdering patients in a Stockport hospital and released without charge last month.
Colin Norris was accused of being a serial killer who targeted frail, elderly patients and injected them with insulin because he found them irritating. Now leading medical experts in insulin and blood-testing claim the patients could have died from natural causes. The new evidence suggests the jury was unaware of inconsistencies in the case.
Norris, then 32 and originally from Glasgow, was convicted in March 2008 at Newcastle crown court of murdering four patients, and the attempted murder of another, six years earlier. He was jailed for life with a recommendation that he serve a minimum of 30 years.
Police were alerted in 2002 after Ethel Hall, 86, a patient in Leeds general infirmary lapsed into a deep coma with irreversible brain damage after a hip operation. The diagnosis was that she had been a victim of insulin poisoning. The police investigation found that Norris had supposedly predicted Hall's death to colleagues, saying: "I wouldn't be surprised if she goes off tonight."
Other similar deaths at the infirmary and St James's hospital, Leeds, where Norris also worked, were examined by a medical panel and it was established that Norris had been on duty during a cluster of them. Although none of the patients were diabetic, all had suffered unexplained hypoglycaemia or low blood sugar, similar to the Stepping Hill cases in Stockport. Death certificates had identified natural causes but Norris was arrested and questioned.
His lawyer at the time, Jim Littlehales, says Norris came over as having nothing to hide and did not exercise his right to silence. Recorded police interviews show him to be combative in denying any involvement. He was charged with four murders and one attempted murder and convicted on a majority verdict. A 2009 appeal failed.
Now a programme for BBC Scotland Investigates, by Mark Daly and Louise Shorter, has found scientific evidence that suggests Norris could be the victim of a miscarriage of justice. Hospital Serial Killer – A Jury in the Dark, claims there is an innocent explanation for all the deaths.
An international review of medical studies conducted after Norris's conviction shows that hypoglycaemia in very elderly, sick non-diabetics is far from rare. According to the world's leading expert on insulin poisoning, Professor Vincent Marks, who analysed the findings, it can occur in up to 10% of the hospital population.
In addition, Dr Adel Ismail, a leading authority on blood tests, now believes that Hall could have died of "auto-immune hypoglaecemia", a natural if very rare condition. Blood tests can often be wrong, with up to 40,000 tests every year in the UK giving a false positive or negative resulting in unnecessary treatment or misdiagnosis, said Dr Ismail, who believes that in Hall's case, more tests should have been done. "The entire case was built on a foundation which is unsound," he said.
Prof Marks, who reviewed the other cases, concluded there could be an innocent explanation for the deaths. "These patients all had other risk factors which included emaciation, starvation because they hadn't been fed, infection, cardiac failure, renal failure," said Marks. "They were all at very high risk of developing spontaneous hypoglaecemia."
The investigation also discovered a family who were told by the police during the investigation that their elderly relative, Lucy Rowell, could be one of Norris's victims as she had died with similar symptoms to the alleged victims. Nearly a year later, the police returned to say it was not murder after all because Norris had not been on duty at the relevant time.
Norris's current lawyer, Jeremy Moore, suggested that the prosecution "cherry-picked" the deaths when Norris was on duty and ignored others. He said that a referral to the CCRC was imminent.
Norris's mother, June Morrison, said she was optimistic that new evidence will lead to a successful appeal.
In a statement, West Yorkshire police said: "Norris was arrested, prosecuted and on the basis of the evidence presented to the court he was convicted and sentenced."
source: guardian.co.uk
