Geriatric nurse who hated old people so much he killed them to spend 30 years in jail

 Add your view

The 32-year-old injected his defenceless victims as they slept in their hospital beds and even boasted: "Whenever I do nights someone always dies".

Driven by a pathological hatred for the elderly he tried to kill a fifth and was so confident he could murder with impunity that he predicted the exact time his final patient would perish.

Yesterday, looking pale and drawn, he was told that he would have to serve at least 30 years of a life sentence for the murders before being considered for parole.

Sentencing him Mr Justice Griffith Williams said: "You are, I have absolutely no doubt, a thoroughly evil and dangerous man.

"The witnesses who spoke of your caring professionalism didn't see that other side of you of which others spoke.

"These witnesses were given a glimpse when the mask slipped of your real personality.

"You are an arrogant and manipulative man with a real dislike for elderly patients.

"You didn't like them because they required too much nursing and were too demanding of your time. You are, in my view, essentially lazy.

"Despite months of evidence I am no wiser as to your motive."

Scroll down for more...

Former teacher Doris Ludlam and cancer patient Bridget Bourke were murdered by lethal doses of insulin

More victims: Widow Irene Crooks and retired shopkeeper Ethel Hall

He said that it was clear they were not mercy killings as none of the five patients he attacked were terminally ill.

"There cannot be any suggestion you were motivated to hasten their ends to spare them suffering; indeed, there was no evidence that any of them was suffering apart from the pains that the elderly sometimes have," he added.

"I suspect you enjoyed the power that ending a life gave you, choosing the elderly because they were defenceless.

"Then, emboldened by the fact that nobody suspected what was happening, it is clear you embarked on what in truth was a campaign of killing - a campaign which would, no doubt, have continued had not experienced medical staff been alerted to what was happening."

Norris, who was found guilty by a jury majority of 11-1 on Monday, launched his six month killing spree in May 2002 when he tried to kill 90-year-old Vera Wilby at Leeds General Infirmary.

When she survived he refined his killing technique before murdering Doris Ludlum, 80, in June 2002, Bridget Bourke, 88, a month later, Irene Crookes, 79, in October and finally Mrs Hall in November.

All four died at the Leeds General Infirmary apart from Mrs Crookes, who was murdered at St James's Hospital a few miles away after Norris was transferred there for night shifts.

By the time he murdered Mrs Hall he had become so confident in his actions of killing that he predicted within 15 minutes the exact time she would die.

Despite showing signs of an improvement Norris told colleagues, shortly after midnight on November 20, that he thought she was "going off that night".

After injecting her with a massive dose of insulin, believing it would kill her almost immediately, she fell into a coma at 5am and died three weeks later.

The similarities between each of the women's deaths amounted to a "compelling" case against him.

They were all difficult patients who were injected with insulin after being admitted for routine hip operations and all died on the night shift whilst Norris was in charge of their care.

Police launched an investigation after a suspicious consultant, Dr Emma Ward, sent a blood sample taken from Mrs Hall off for analysis which showed she had 12 times the average amount of insulin in her body.

They examined more than 70 deaths, before highlighting 18 as of significant interest.

Norris, who sedated some of his victims with morphine, was arrested before being charged in 2005 of killing four and attempting to murder a fifth.

They now believe he could have killed at least three others.

Outside Newcastle Crown Court Mrs Hall's 53-year-old son, Stuart, called for an independent public inquiry into how Norris was allowed to carry out his campaign of murder without raising suspicions earlier.

He said: "We are hoping to have discussions with the trust and would like to see an independent inquiry into how this could have happened.

"On Monday I had to explain to my 88-year-old father, John, that his wife's killer had been found guilty of her murder.

"Ethel was not unwell and if it had not been for this callous killer she could still be with us today, enjoying her life with her husband and family.

"I do not understand why Colin Norris pretended to be a caring nurse when he was really a cold-blooded killer who preyed on the vulnerable and those he should have been caring for.

"They were looking for his help in recovering from their simple hip operations. They did not deserve to die at his hands."

 

What's on today   What's on tomorrow

Receive our newsletter