Victorino Chua: Killer nurse convicted of two murders during 'reign of terror' at Stepping Hill Hospital

 
Guilty: Nurse Victorino Chua was convicted of two murders
Greater Manchester Police
Robin de Peyer18 May 2015
WEST END FINAL

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A killer nurse has been found guilty of murdering two patients and poisoning others after claiming "there's a devil in me".

Father-of-two Victorino Chua, 49, injected insulin into saline bags and ampoules while working on two wards at Stepping Hill Hospital in Stockport in June and July 2011.

These were then unwittingly used by other nurses on the ward - leading to a series of insulin overdoses to mainly elderly victims.

Chua was convicted of murdering two patients but cleared of a third murder by a jury at Manchester Crown Court, which had been deliberating for 11 days.

The prosecution said the Filipino had decided to take out his personal frustrations on patients "for reasons truly known only to himself".

After police were called in, Chua was said to have "changed tack" by sabotaging prescription charts, doubling and trebling dosages - some with potentially lethal consequences - leading to his arrest in January 2012.

Hospital deaths: Victorino Chua was convicted of two murders

Among the evidence produced by the prosecution was a self-penned letter found at Chua's home in Stockport after his arrest.

In the letter, described as "the bitter nurse confession" by Chua, he said he was "an angel turned into an evil person" and "there's a devil in me". He also wrote of having things he would "take to the grave".

He was found guilty of murdering Tracy Arden, 44, and Alfred Weaver, 83. He was cleared of murdering Arnold Lancaster, 81, who was suffering from cancer, but convicted of attempting to cause him grievous bodily harm with intent by poisoning.

Ms Arden, who had multiple sclerosis, was expected to revocer after being admitted for a "mild" chest infection.

But she was pronounced dead eight hours after admission after being treated with a saline ampoule Chua had contaminated with insulin.

Mr Weaver was admitted with a chest infection and after being given a saline drip, he "appeared to be in agony, eyes rolling back in his head". He died 10 days later.

In his closing speech to the jury of six men and six women, prosecutor Peter Wright QC said: "The evidence points sadly to a man who, for reasons truly known only to himself, decided to take out his frustrations on his and others' patients."

Chua's defence team said he had been wrongly singled out and made "a scapegoat".

Peter Griffiths QC said the effort that Greater Manchester Police had put into the investigation resulted in "huge pressure" to bring someone to account.

Another Stepping Hill nurse, Rebecca Leighton, was arrested and charged in the early stages of the investigation and locked up for more than a month before she was released without charge, the jury heard.

The defence reminded the jury that none of Chua's fingerprints were found on any of the contaminated ampoules or saline bags - and no one had seen him sabotaging any products while working at the hospital.

But Chua was the only nurse who was on duty at all the relevant times outlined in the prosecution case against him.

In all Chua was convicted of two murders, 22 counts of attempted grievous bodily harm, one count of grievous bodily harm, seven attempts of administering poison and one count of administering poison. Greater Manchester Police said he had overseen a "reign of terror" at the hospital.

He was cleared of one count of murder, one count of manslaughter and one count of attempting to administer poison.

In June and July of 2011 a growing feeling of unease and "something not right" overtook medics after one patient after another suddenly began falling inexplicably ill on Chua's wards.

Overnight on the nightshift of July 10/11, five patients had unexpected hypoglycaemic attacks, a naturally rare event, which suddenly became, "alarmingly common".

A similar pattern followed of "roller coaster" blood sugar levels for the poisoned patients, who soon rallied after being given glucose sugar infusions, only before they relapsed again from the insulin, unknown to medics, still in their drips.

Many patients went "full circle" and recovered, but three died, two of them as a direct result of the poisoning the jury ruled with their murder verdicts, and a fourth was left with permanent brain damage.

Chua blinked as the verdicts were delivered but gave no other reaction.

He will be sentenced on Tuesday.

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