Real Crime Stories/Paranormal Hauntings/Conspiracy Theories Book II

Killer Nurse: Beverley Allitt "Angel of Death"

Beverley Gail Allitt (born 4October 1968) is an English serial child killer who was convicted ofmurdering four children, attempting to murder three other children,and causing grievous bodily harm to a further six. The crimes werecommitted over a period of 59 days from February to April 1991 in thechildren's ward at Grantham and Kesteven Hospital, Lincolnshire,where Allitt was employed as a State Enrolled Nurse. She is supposedto have administered large doses of insulin to at least two of hervictims, and a large air bubble was found in the body of another, butpolice were unable to establish how all the attacks were carried out. In May 1993, at Nottingham Crown Court, she received thirteen lifesentences for the crimes. Mr Justice Latham, sentencing, told Allittthat she was "a serious danger" to others and wasunlikely ever to be considered safe enough to be released. She isdetained at Rampton Secure Hospital in Nottinghamshire.

Early life

Beverley Allitt was born on 4 October1968 and grew up in the village of Corby Glen, near the town ofGrantham. She had two sisters and a brother. Her father, Richard,worked in an off-license, and her mother as a school cleaner. Allittattended Charles Read Secondary Modern School, having failed the testto enter Kesteven and Grantham Girls' School. She would oftenvolunteer for baby-sitting jobs and left school at the age of 16,taking a course in nursing at Grantham College.

Victims

Died

Liam Taylor (seven weeks old)–was admitted to the ward for a chest infection and was murdered on 22February 1991.

Timothy Hardwick (eleven yearsold)– a boy with cerebral palsy who was admitted to the ward afterhaving an epileptic seizure. He was murdered on 5 March 1991.

Becky Phillips (two months old)– admitted to the ward for gastroenteritis on 1 April 1991. She wasadministered an insulin overdose by Allitt and died at home two dayslater; her death was originally believed to have been cot death.

Claire Peck (fifteen months old)– admitted to the ward following an asthma attack on 22 April 1991.After being put on a ventilator, she was left alone in Allitt's carefor a short interval during which time she went into cardiac arrest.She was resuscitated but died after a second episode of cardiacarrest, again following a period when she was left alone with Allitt.

Survived

Kayley Desmond (then one yearold) – admitted to the ward for a chest infection. Allitt attemptedto murder her on 8 March 1991 but the child was resuscitated andtransferred to another hospital, where she recovered.

Paul Crampton (then five monthsold) – admitted to the ward for a chest infection on 20 March 1991.Allitt attempted to murder him with an insulin overdose on threeoccasions the day before he was transferred to another hospital,where he recovered.

Bradley Gibson (then five years old) –admitted to the ward for pneumonia. He suffered two cardiac arrestson 21 March 1991, due to Allitt administering insulin overdoses,before he was transferred to another hospital, where he recovered.

Michael Davidson (then six yearsold) – admitted to the ward for post-operative care following anoperation to remove an air rifle pellet that he had been injured within an accident. After being injected with insulin multiple timesthrough a cannula on his hand, he suffered from cyanosis and fellunconscious before being stabilized by other doctors on the ward. Helater made a full recovery.

Yik Hung Chan (also known as Henry,then two years old) – admitted to the ward following a fall on 21March 1991. He suffered an oxygen desaturation attack before he wastransferred to another hospital, where he recovered.

Katie Phillips (then two months old) –Becky's twin was admitted to the ward as a precaution following thedeath of her sister. She had to be resuscitated twice afterunexplained apnoeic episodes (which were later found to be caused byinsulin and potassium overdoses). Following the second time that shestopped breathing, she was transferred to another hospital but, bythis time, had suffered permanent brain damage, partial paralysis andpartial blindness due to oxygen deprivation. Her parents had been sograteful for Allitt's care of Becky that they had asked her to beKatie's godmother. In 1999 Katie was awarded £2.125 million, byLincolnshire Health Authority, to pay for treatment and equipment forthe rest of her life. Lincolnshire Health Authority did not acceptliability, but did acknowledge that Katie was entitled tocompensation.

Trial and imprisonment

Allitt had attacked thirteen children,four fatally, over a 59-day period before she was brought up oncharges for her crimes. It was only following the death of Peck thatmedical staff became suspicious of the number of cardiac arrests onthe children's ward and police were called in. It was found thatAllitt was the only nurse on duty for all the attacks on the childrenand she also had access to the drugs.

Four of Allitt's victims had died. Shewas charged with four counts of murder, eleven counts of attemptedmurder and eleven counts of causing grievous bodily harm. Allittentered pleas of not guilty to all charges. On 28 May 1993, she wasfound guilty on each charge and sentenced to thirteen concurrentterms of life imprisonment, which she is serving at Rampton SecureHospital in Nottinghamshire.

In the 2018 documentary Trevor McDonaldand the Killer Nurse, Allitt reportedly told close friends before hertrial that she would never go to prison. After one week in prison sherefused to eat or drink and was moved to Rampton Secure Hospital. Twoleading experts, forensic psychologist Jeremy Coid and criminologistElizabeth Yardley examined Allitt's mental state when she wasarrested and concluded she was not mentally ill and should be inprison, not hospital. Allitt reportedly admitted to all 13 of hercrimes in a failed application to remain at Rampton Secure Hospitaland permanently avoid prison. None of the families of Allitt'svictims had been told of her full confession in the failedapplication.

On 6 December 2007, Mr Justice StanleyBurnton, sitting in the High Court of Justice, London, confirmed thatAllitt must serve the original minimum sentence of thirty years. Itwas reported that some families of Allitt's victims had previouslymistakenly believed that her minimum tariff had been set at fortyyears.

Allitt's motives have never been fullyexplained. According to one theory, she showed symptoms of factitiousdisorder, also known as Munchausen syndrome or Munchausen syndrome byproxy. This disorder is described as involving a pattern of abuse inwhich a perpetrator ascribes to, or physically falsifies illnessesin, someone under their care to attract attention to themselves.

In popular culture

Allitt was the subject of a book calledMurder on Ward Four by Nick Davies. A BBC dramatization of the case,Angel of Death (2005), featured Charlie Brooks as Allitt. Allitt'sstory was depicted in episodes of the true crime documentaries CrimesThat Shook Great Britain, Deadly Women, Born To Kill?, Evil Up Close,and Nurses Who Kill. and Martina Cole's Lady Killers. The song "HandThat Rocks the Cradle" on Black Sabbath's 1994 album CrossPurposes is about the case.