Beverley Allitt

{{Short description|English serial killer (born 1968)}} {{Use British English|date=October 2022}} {{Use dmy dates|date=August 2023}} {{Infobox serial killer | name = Beverly Allitt | image = | caption = | birth_name = Beverly Gail Allitt | other_names = The Angel of Death | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1968|10|4|df=y}} | birth_place = Grantham, Lincolnshire, England | conviction_status = Incarcerated | death_date = | death_place = | cause = | penalty = 13 life sentences, 4 counts of murder, 5 counts of attempted murder, 6 counts of GBH | weapon = Insulin, unknown toxic substances | imprisoned = Rampton Secure Hospital | victims = 13 (4 deaths) | beginyear = February | endyear = April 1991 | country = United Kingdom | motive = Attention due to factitious disorder imposed on another | apprehended = 1991 }}

'''Beverly Gail Allitt''' (born 4 October 1968) is an English serial killer who was convicted of murdering three infants and an 11-year-old boy, and attempting to murder three others, and causing grievous bodily harm to a further six at Grantham and Kesteven Hospital, Lincolnshire, between February and April 1991.<ref>{{Cite news |title=The verdicts: Beverly Allitt |last=Katz |first=Ian |newspaper=The Guardian |location=London |date=18 May 1993}}</ref> She committed the murders as a State Enrolled Nurse on the hospital's children's ward.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Nurse 'only link to children's deaths' |newspaper=The Guardian |location=London |date=16 February 1993}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |title=Shadows of death fell across Ward 4 |last=Jenkins |first=Lin |work=The Times |location=London |date=18 May 1993}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |title=Killings fed a craving for attention |last=Jenkins |first=Lin |newspaper=The Times |location=London |date=18 May 1993}}</ref>

Allitt administered large doses of insulin to at least two of her victims and a large air bubble was found in the body of another, but police were initially unable to establish how all of the attacks were carried out.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Child murderer confesses at last |last=Foster |first=Jonathan |newspaper=The Independent |location=London |date=15 October 1993}}</ref>

In May 1993, Allitt received 13 life sentences at Nottingham Crown Court. The sentencing judge, Justice David Latham, told Allitt that she was "a serious danger" to others and was unlikely ever to be considered safe enough to be released.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Allitt jailed 'with no prospect of release' |last=Weale |first=Sally |newspaper=The Guardian |location=London |date=29 May 1993}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1993/05/28/Killer-nurse-gets-13-life-sentences-in-Britain/1050738561600/ |title=Killer nurse gets 13 life sentences in Britain |work=UPI |date=28 May 1993 |access-date=13 August 2020 |archive-date=1 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210301155003/https://www.upi.com/Archives/1993/05/28/Killer-nurse-gets-13-life-sentences-in-Britain/1050738561600/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Allitt is currently detained at Rampton Secure Hospital in Nottinghamshire.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Warning signs about Allitt 'overlooked' |author=Foster, Jonathan |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/warning-signs-about-allitt-overlooked-1391435.html |newspaper=The Independent |location=London |date=2 February 1994 |archive-date=4 January 2020 |access-date=4 January 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200104062202/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/warning-signs-about-allitt-overlooked-1391435.html |url-status=live }}</ref> She became eligible for release on parole after her minimum tariff of 30 years' imprisonment expired in November 2021.<ref name="Parole" />

==Early life== Beverly Gail Allitt was born on 4 October 1968 and grew up in the village of Corby Glen near the town of Grantham. She had two sisters and a brother. Her father, Richard, worked in an off-licence and her mother was a school cleaner. Allitt attended Charles Read Secondary Modern School, having failed the test to enter Kesteven and Grantham Girls' School. She often volunteered for babysitting jobs. She left school at the age of 16 and took a course in nursing at Grantham College.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/drawn-curtains-in-a-silent-village-the-beverly-allitt-case-on-friday-this-baby-killer-will-be-sentenced-for-26-ajkttacks-including-four-murders-what-do-they-make-of-it-all-back-home-2324732.html |title=Drawn curtains in a silent village: The Beverly Allitt case: on Friday |newspaper=Independent.co.uk |date=22 May 1993 |access-date=24 September 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author1=John Askill |author2=Martyn Sharpe |title=Angel of Death: Killer Nurse Beverly Allitt |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vB3dAgAAQBAJ&pg=PT84 |date=7 January 2014 |publisher=Michael OMara |isbn=978-1-78243-245-6 |pages=84–}}</ref>

==Trial and imprisonment== Allitt had attacked 13 children, four fatally, over a 59-day period. It was only following the death of Becky Phillips that medical staff became suspicious of the number of cardiac arrests on the children's ward and police were called in.<ref>{{cite journal |url= |title=Murder in the NHS |journal=BMJ |volume=308 |issue=6924 |pages=287–288 |date=29 January 1994 |doi=10.1136/bmj.308.6924.287 |pmid=8124115 |pmc=2539291 |last1=Appleyard |first1=W. J. }}</ref> It was found that Allitt was the only nurse on duty for all the attacks on the children and had access to the drugs used.

Four of Allitt's victims had died. She was charged with four counts of murder, eleven counts of attempted murder, and eleven counts of causing grievous bodily harm. Allitt entered pleas of not guilty to all charges.<ref>{{cite news |title=Hospital nurse denies killing babies with insulin injections |last=Murray |first=Ian |newspaper=The Times |location=London |date=16 February 1993}}</ref> On 28 May 1993, she was found guilty on each charge and sentenced to 13 concurrent terms of life imprisonment, which she is serving at Rampton Secure Hospital in Nottinghamshire.<ref>{{cite news |title=Behind the scenes at Rampton |last=Robinson |first=Oonagh |work=Nottingham Evening Post |location=Nottingham |date=28 November 2011 |page=12}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.crimelibrary.com/notorious_murders/angels/beverly_allitt/6.html |title=Beverly Allitt: Suffer the Children |access-date=6 February 2007 |date=10 May 2000 |publisher=The Crime Library |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070208092708/http://www.crimelibrary.com/notorious_murders/angels/beverly_allitt/6.html |archive-date=8 February 2007 }}</ref>

In the 2018 documentary ''Trevor McDonald and the Killer Nurse'', it was reported that Allitt had told close friends before her trial that she would never go to prison. After one week in prison, she refused to eat or drink and was moved to Rampton Secure Hospital. Two leading experts, forensic psychiatrist Jeremy Coid and criminologist Elizabeth Yardley, examined Allitt's mental state when she was arrested and concluded she was not mentally ill and should be in prison, not a hospital.

On 6 December 2007, Mr Justice Stanley Burnton, sitting in the High Court of Justice, London, ordered Allitt to serve the original minimum sentence of 30 years.<ref>{{cite news |title=Serial killer nurse Allitt must serve 30 years |first=David |last=Batty |date=6 December 2007 |newspaper=The Guardian |location=London |access-date=29 August 2013 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2007/dec/06/ukcrime.health |archive-date=8 June 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200608221306/https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2007/dec/06/ukcrime.health |url-status=live }}</ref> It was reported that some families of Allitt's victims had previously mistakenly believed that her minimum tariff had been set at 40 years.<ref>{{cite news |date=6 December 2007 |title=Child killer Allitt's tariff set |work=BBC News |location=London |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/lincolnshire/7130211.stm |access-date=29 August 2013 |archive-date=2 April 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090402151817/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/lincolnshire/7130211.stm |url-status=live }}</ref> Her minimum tariff expired in November 2021 and she is now eligible for release on parole.<ref name="Parole">{{cite news |title=Grantham family of victim of Beverly Allitt says killer nurse 'must never be set free' |url=https://www.granthamjournal.co.uk/news/grantham-family-of-victim-of-beverley-allitt-says-killer-nur-9213778/ |access-date=30 April 2022 |work=Grantham Journal |date=30 August 2021 |archive-date=8 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220208235330/https://www.granthamjournal.co.uk/news/grantham-family-of-victim-of-beverley-allitt-says-killer-nur-9213778/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Allitt's motives have never been fully explained. According to one theory, she showed symptoms of a factitious disorder also known as Munchausen syndrome by proxy.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.crimeandinvestigation.co.uk/famous_criminal/8/the_arrest/1/Beverley_Allitt.htm |title=Famous Criminals: Beverley Allitt |access-date=6 February 2007 |date=10 February 2005 |publisher=Crime & Investigation Network |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071121201300/http://www.crimeandinvestigation.co.uk/famous_criminal/8/the_arrest/1/Beverley_Allitt.htm |archive-date=21 November 2007 }}</ref> This disorder is described as involving a pattern of abuse in which a perpetrator ascribes symptoms to, or physically falsifies illnesses in, someone under their care in order to attract attention to themselves.

On 3 October 2023, it was reported that Allitt was appearing before a mental health tribunal to be assessed for a potential transfer to a mainstream prison. If the transfer takes place, Allitt will be eligible for parole after six months.<ref>{{cite web |website=LBC |url=https://www.lbc.co.uk/news/angel-of-death-serial-killer-beverley-allitt-release-bid/ |title='Angel of death' serial killer Beverley Allitt who murdered four children in hospital taking first steps towards release |date=3 October 2023 |last=Rigley |first=Stephen |access-date=3 October 2023 |archive-date=2 December 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241202033335/https://www.lbc.co.uk/news/angel-of-death-serial-killer-beverley-allitt-release-bid/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

On 8 December 2023, authorities reportedly denied her transfer request from the Rampton Secure Hospital, a high-security psychiatric facility, to a mainstream prison. She will not be eligible for another assessment until 2026 at the earliest.<ref>{{cite web |website=Killer Updates |url=https://www.killerupdates.com/beverley-allitt/ |title=Beverley Allitt Profile - Where is she now? |date=14 April 2025 |access-date=16 April 2025 }}</ref>

==In popular culture== Allitt was the subject of a book called ''Murder on Ward Four'' by Nick Davies. A BBC dramatisation of the case, ''Angel of Death'' (2005), featured Charlie Brooks as Allitt.<ref>{{cite web |title=Angel of Death: The Beverly Allitt Story |url=http://crimedocumentary.com/angel-death-beverly-allitt-story-2005/ |website=crimedocumentary.com |access-date=14 October 2017 |archive-date=14 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171014084252/http://crimedocumentary.com/angel-death-beverly-allitt-story-2005/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Allitt's story was depicted in episodes of the true crime documentaries ''Crimes That Shook Great Britain'', ''Deadly Women'', ''Born To Kill?'', ''Evil Up Close'', ''Britain's Most Evil Killers'', and ''Nurses Who Kill''.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.crimeandinvestigation.co.uk/crime-files/beverly-allitt |title="Crime+Investigation" information on Allitt |access-date=3 December 2019 |archive-date=30 September 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190930153414/https://www.crimeandinvestigation.co.uk/crime-files/beverly-allitt |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.crimeandinvestigation.co.uk/search/node/Allitt |title="Crime+Investigation" TV shows on Allitt |access-date=3 December 2019 |archive-date=3 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191203042310/https://www.crimeandinvestigation.co.uk/search/node/Allitt |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Allitt is also referenced in the Manic Street Preachers song 'Archives of Pain' on the 1994 album 'The Holy Bible'.

==References== {{reflist|2}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Allitt, Beverley}} Category:1968 births Category:1991 in England Category:1991 murders in the United Kingdom Category:1993 in England Category:20th-century English criminals Category:20th-century British murderers Category:Alumni of Grantham College Category:British female serial killers Category:British serial killers Category:Criminals from Lincolnshire Category:English murderers of children Category:English nurses Category:English people convicted of murder Category:English prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment Category:English serial killers Category:Living people Category:Medical serial killers Category:Nurses convicted of murdering patients Category:People convicted of murder by England and Wales Category:People from Grantham Category:People with factitious disorders Category:Poisoners Category:Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by England and Wales Category:20th-century English women Category:English female criminals