'Angel of death' serial killer Beverley Allitt who murdered four children in hospital taking first steps towards release

3 October 2023, 11:44 | Updated: 3 October 2023, 11:48

Angel of Death baby killer Beverley Allitt will go before a panel of experts today as she takes her first steps towards release.

The former nurse, now 54, killed Liam Taylor, seven weeks, Timothy Hardwick, 11, Becky Phillips, two months, and Claire Peck, 15 months, over the course of 59 days at Grantham Hospital in Lincolnshire in 1991.

Over a period of two months in 1991, the killer attacked babies and children more than 36 times while working on the children's ward where she injected syringes full of insulin or potassium chloride into her victims, sparking lethal hypoglycaemia or cardiac arrest.

Read More: Boy, 13, admits killing grandmother by running her over with her own car

Read More: Lucy Letby faces retrial for one count of attempted murder against a baby girl

Suspicions were raised when records revealed missing nursing logs, and investigators concluded that she was the only nurse on shift during every single incident.

She was handed a minimum 30-year sentence in 1993 for murdering the four children and attempting to kill nine others but spent just one week in prison before being diagnosed with a psychiatric disorder.

Allitt will appear before a mental health tribunal where she will be assessed for a potential transfer to a mainstream prison, The Mirror reports.

This means that Allitt could apply for parole six months after a potential move to the new prison.

But her victims and her families have said they feel 'terrified' at the thought of the killer going free once again.

Alan Asher, 66, whose daughter Kayley was 15 months old when Allitt injected an air bubble under her arm, said: “She should never be released.”

"Can you imagine if she were freed? It would destroy Kayley. She's be terrified, looking in cupboards and around the house because she didn't feel safe."

Kayley survived the attack but has lifelong problems with fine motor skills, mobility and hearing. She is still haunted by the evil killer nurse and fears she could walk back into her family’s life.

A spokesman for the Courts and Tribunal Judiciary said they are “never able to comment on specific cases”.

A spokeswoman for Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust said they could not comment due to patient confidentiality.