Sunday Mirror (Northern Ireland)
The Angel of Death almost killed our boys. Don’t free her
Victims’ dads say Allitt should stay in jail past 30yr minimum
THE fathers of two tots attacked by Angel of Death nurse Beverley Allitt have issued a plea for the serial killer to never be released.
Steve Gibson and David Crampton were at court in 1993 to see her get a minimum 30 years for murdering four kids, trying to murder three more and attacking six others.
Her killing spree at Grantham and Kesteven Hospital, Lincs, in 1991 lasted 59 days.
Steve’s son Bradley, five, was on Ward 4 with pneumonia when the evil nurse gave him a near-fatal dose of potassium.
And the same month, on the same ward, Allitt gave David’s five-month-old son Paul three overdoses of insulin.
Allitt was diagnosed with Munchausen syndrome by proxy – in which a caregiver may harm someone in their care to get attention – and sent to Rampton Hospital, Notts.
It is one of three high-security psychiatric hospitals in England and Wales, and she can only bid for parole if deemed well enough to move to mainstream jail.
A mental health panel is believed to meet every three years to assess Allitt, now 54. But David, 68, said: “If it was down to me, I would not want to see her ever released.”
And Steve, 66, added: “She’s going to be like Myra Hindley – staying in there until she dies.”
Allitt was 24 when found guilty at Nottingham crown court of murdering Timothy Hardwick, 11, Liam Taylor, seven weeks, Becky Phillips, nine weeks, and Claire Peck, 15 months.
She was also convicted of three attempted murders and six counts of GBH, and got 13 life sentences.
Bradley suffered a heart attack after his poisoning and had to be shocked eight times. His dad and mum Judith were called and told to go straight to the hospital.
Steve, a retired groundsman, said: “I can remember someone saying ‘It’s not looking good’ and asking if we’d like to see a chaplain.
“They managed to get his heart started a few times. The possibility of him having brain damage was there as well. We
She’ll be like Myra Hindley – staying in there until she dies
didn’t find out for weeks that he was going to be OK.”
Bradley, 35, went to college and is now working and living with his girlfriend in the Lake District. Steve says: “They’re looking for a house to buy. He’s turned out OK.”
David, who like Steve still lives near the hospital, remains struck by how nondescript the killer dubbed the Angel of Death was, saying: “She wasn’t someone I liked or disliked. She was unremarkable.”
The father-of-three is proud of Paul, 30, who has enjoyed a successful career after obtaining a Master’s degree.
David, a retired construction director, added: “I don’t think what happened had an effect on him growing up. It was talked about openly.
“It really struck home when he became a parent himself. He fully understood then what we must have gone through.”
It is this shared understanding that made Steve and David firm friends. Steve said: “David and I always got on.”
David added: “Steve’s one of a number of people I’m glad I met through what happened.”
Steve admitted there was a time when he might have wished Allitt dead but not any more, adding: “If I had lost Brad, I probably would have had a different attitude.
“We’re lucky Brad’s alive. There are parents who were not so lucky.”
And David stressed he blames Allitt, not the NHS, for her crimes, saying: “Her victims are clearly the children and their families. But they are also the hospital staff, the community. Everyone has suffered.”