Nurse named an ‘angel of death’ makes fresh appeal

A NURSE branded an “angel of death” after he was found guilty of killing four elderly female patients is appealing his conviction.

Colin Norris, who trained in Dundee, was convicted in 2008 of the murder of four women and the attempted murder of another while working in Leeds and sentenced to 30 years in jail.

Norris, who studied at the University of Dundee, is said to have injected all five of his victims with massive doses of insulin, which can lead to hypoglycaemia — a potentially fatal condition caused by blood sugar levels falling dangerously low.

The prosecution argued that such a cluster of cases as occurred in Leeds could not happen naturally.

However, the Glaswegian passed evidence in 2012 to the Criminal Cases Review Commission which showed that naturally occurring hypoglycaemia is far more common than first thought.

He is now also challenging the results of a blood test which showed one woman had 12 times the normal level of insulin in her blood. The hormone deteriorates so rapidly in the body that the test cannot be accurate, he argues.

Once the evidence is submitted to the CCRC it will be considered along with claims about naturally occurring hypoglycaemia.

If the evidence is deemed to cast doubt on Norris’s conviction then his case will be passed to the Court of Appeal for reconsideration.

Norris has already had an appeal rejected in 2009.