Killer nurse jailed for murder of elderly patients loses appeal
Colin Campbell, formerly known as Colin Norris, was found guilty in 2008 of killing four women
A nurse jailed for life for the murders of four elderly patients and the attempted murder of a fifth has had his appeals against conviction dismissed by the Court of Appeal.
Colin Campbell, formerly known as Colin Norris, was handed a life sentence in 2008 after being found guilty of killing Doris Ludlam, Bridget Bourke, Irene Crookes, and Ethel Hall. He was also convicted of attempting to murder a fifth patient.
The victims were inpatients on orthopaedic wards where Campbell worked in Leeds in 2002. Their deaths were attributed to severe, unexplained hypoglycaemia.
Campbell denied any wrongdoing and said he did nothing to cause hypoglycaemia in any of the patients.
His case was referred to the Court of Appeal in London by the Criminal Cases Review Commission in 2021, who said previously that the prosecution relied on “wholly circumstantial” evidence.
In a 14-day hearing earlier this year, Mr Campbell’s lawyers argued that new expert knowledge meant the convictions were now unsafe while lawyers for the Crown Prosecution Service said much of the same evidence presented was heard by the jury at trial.
In a ruling on Thursday judges dismissed his appeals.
In their judgment, Lady Justice Macur, Mr Justice Picken and Sir Stephen Irwin, said: “We have no doubt about the safety of any of the five convictions. The appeals are dismissed.”