Advertisement

  1. National

Nurse Victorino Chua maintains innocence despite convictions

Nurse Victorino Chua, who was jailed at Manchester Crown Court for murdering and poisoning patients at Stepping Hill Hospital, today said in a statement issued by his solicitor: "I am completely innocent of any wrong doing. I now face a minimum of 35 years in custody for crimes I did not commit."

View all 23 updates ›

Stepping Hill nurse found guilty of two murders

A nurse has been found guilty of two counts of murder by poisoning, and cleared of a third.

49-year-old Victorino Chua was convicted at Manchester Crown Court after 11 days of jury deliberation.

Chua was found to have injected insulin into saline bags and ampoules while working on two wards at Stepping Hill Hospital in June and July 2011.

Stepping Hill hospital in Stockport Credit: Dave Thompson/PA Wire

These were then unwittingly used by other nurses on the ward - leading to a series of insulin overdoses to mainly elderly victims.

After police were called in, Chua was said to have "changed tack" by sabotaging prescription charts, doubling and trebling dosages - some with potentially lethal consequences - leading to his arrest in January 2012.

The Crown said the Filipino father-of-two had decided to take out his personal frustrations on patients "for reasons truly known only to himself".

Among the evidence produced by the prosecution was a self-penned letter found at Chua's home in Stockport after his arrest.

In the letter, described as "the bitter nurse confession" by Chua, the he said he was "an angel turned into an evil person" and "there's a devil in me", who had things he would "take to the grave".

More on this story