BEVERLEY ALLITT is a former nurse who murdered four babies in her care in 1991.
The killer worked at Grantham Hospital in Lincolnshire and was caught after medical staff raised the alarm over the deaths.
Who is Beverley Allitt?
Beverley Allitt is a convicted baby killer who has been nicknamed the Angel of Death.
She left school in 1987, aged 18, and began her nurse training at Grantham College with with just a handful of qualifications.
Medical records from 1985 show Allitt to be a psychologically disturbed individual who was prone to self-harm.
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She was the only student nurse from her course who failed to get a job, and was often absent from her studies due to illness.
Allitt was offered a six-month contract at Grantham & Kesteven Hospital despite being under-qualified.
She began her role in December 1990 due to severe staff shortages on Ward Four, where children were cared for.
In 1991, at the age of 22, Allitt went on a deadly killing spree on the children's ward.
She committed the murders either by insulin or potassium overdose, or injecting an air bubble into the bloodstream, which can cause lung collapse.
Police and medical staff were initially unable to establish how the crimes were carried out.
Doctors have since shared their belief that Allitt suffered from the psychological disorder Münchausen syndrome or Münchausen syndrome by proxy.
The syndrome involves inflicting or faking physical or psychological symptoms for attention, while Münchausen syndrome by proxy – an escalation of the syndrome – involves harming others to create attention.
Who were her victims?
Liam Taylor
Allitt’s first victim was seven week old Liam Taylor, who was admitted with a chest infection.
He began to improve after being given antibiotics but, after his parents were sent home to rest, he mysteriously took a turn for the worse.
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Doctors were only alerted to his worsening condition by Allitt, despite the baby being hooked up to alarms to monitor his breathing and oxygen levels.
He was put on life support but died of a heart attack in his mum's arms the next day.
Consultants on the ward were confused by Liam's dramatic relapse and questioned why the alarms didn't sound in time.
Timothy Hardwick
Timothy Hardwick, 11, had cerebral palsy and was admitted to the ward after suffering an epileptic seizure.
He fell asleep, with his breathing and heart rate stable, but just 30 minutes later Allitt raised the alarm that he was dying.
Attempts to re-start his heart were made but he died on March 5, 1991.
Becky & Katie Phillips
Becky Phillips, two months old, was admitted to the ward for gastroenteritis on April 1, 1991.
She was given an insulin overdose by Allitt and died at home two days later.
Doctors were concerned that whatever had caused Becky’s death could also affect her identical twin Katie, so she was admitted to hospital for monitoring.
This genuine concern actually put Katie in harm's way and in direct contact with Allitt.
Within hours, the nurse attempted to kill Katie four times by suffocation and injections of insulin and potassium.
Katie was put on life support, suffered epileptic fits and was eventually transferred to Queen’s Medical Centre, away from the nurse who had attempted to kill her.
She was left epileptic and paralysed as a result of Allitt's actions.
Claire Peck
Claire Peck, 15 months, was admitted to the ward after suffering an asthma attack on April 22, 1991.
After being put on a ventilator, she was left in Allitt's care and then went into cardiac arrest.
She was resuscitated but died after a second episode of cardiac arrest - during an interval when she was left alone with Allitt again.
The toddler became the fourth child to die on the ward in two months.
Kayley Desmond
Kayley almost died when Allitt injected her with air at the Grantham and Kesteven Hospital, Lincs, in 1991.
She was resuscitated after being injected with an air bubble that caused her lungs to collapse and triggered two cardiac arrests.
Her mum Sharon said in 2018: "You take a child to hospital and you think they are in the best place. This cannot be put in jeopardy. The families of Allitt's victims can never get over what she did.
She also revealed that Kayley, who was left with severe learning difficulties after the attack, was on anti-depressants to treat anxiety as she fears Allitt will come back to get her.
Five other children, aged between two months and five years old, survived twisted Allitt's attacks.
Where is Beverley Allitt now?
Beverley Allitt has been serving her prison sentence at Rampton Secure Hospital since 1993.
She was found guilty on May 28, 1993, and given 13 life sentences, with a minimum of 30 years.
Allitt was convicted of four counts of murder, three attempted murders and six counts of GBH.
She has since admitted, in writing, to all 13 crimes that she was convicted for, though she pleaded not guilty at trial.
Allitt was caught after medical staff raised the alarm when the number of cardiac arrests on the children's ward raised suspicions.
Police were finally called on April 30, 1991, and detectives examining the nursing time sheets for all the deaths and events found that one name appeared every time: Beverley Allitt.
Allitt was suspended from duties immediately as investigators began to examine each individual case.
The one that stood out to them was Paul Crampton.
The pathology report revealed that Paul had 43,147 milliunits of insulin in his blood – one of the highest levels ever found in a human.
Police believed that Allitt had injected a whole adult syringe of insulin into his body.
Pages from the ward allocation log at the time of Paul's admission had been ripped out, and were later found at Allitt's house during a search.
Investigators concluded that syringes full of insulin or potassium chloride were Allitt's favoured murder weapons – the drugs either inducing lethal hypoglycaemia or cardiac arrest in the victims.
A 2019 documentary revealed how Allitt laughed when charged with the four murders.
In November 2021 Allett became eligible for parole but, as of August 2023, she remains locked up.
Kayley, who survived an attack by Allit, has revealed her fears that Allitt could "get her" if released.
