Beverley Allitt biography

and his cause of death was recorded as heart failure. Allitt was never questioned about her role in Liam's death.

Only two weeks after Taylor's death, her next victim was Timothy Hardwick, an 11-year-old with cerebral palsy who was admitted to Ward 4 following an epileptic fit on March 5, 1991. Allitt took over his care and, again following a period when she was alone with the boy, she summoned the emergency resuscitation team, who found him without a pulse and turning blue. Despite their best efforts the team, which included a pediatric specialist, were unable to revive him. An autopsy later failed to provide an obvious cause of death, although his epilepsy was officially blamed.

Her third victim, 1-year-old Kayley Desmond, was admitted to Ward 4 on March 3, 1991, with a chest infection, from which she seemed to be recovering well. Five days later, with Allitt in attendance, Kayley went into cardiac arrest in the same bed where Liam Taylor had died a fortnight before. The resuscitation team were able to revive her, and she was transferred to another hospital in Nottingham, where attending physicians discovered an odd puncture hole under her armpit during a thorough examination. They also discovered an air bubble near the puncture mark, which they attributed to an accidental injection, but no investigation was initiated.
Five-month-old Paul Crampton became Allit's next victim, placed in Ward 4 on March 20, 1991, as a result of a non-serious bronchial infection. Just prior to his discharge, Allitt, who was again attending a patient by herself, summoned help as Paul appeared to be suffering from insulin shock, going into a near-coma on three separate occasions. Each time, the doctors revived him, but were unable to explain the fluctuation in his insulin levels. When he was taken by ambulance to another hospital in Nottingham, Allitt rode with him. He was again found to have too much insulin. Paul was extremely fortunate to have survived the ministrations of the Angel of Death.

The next day, 5-year-old Bradley Gibson, a pneumonia sufferer, went into unexpected cardiac arrest, but was saved by the resuscitation team. Subsequent blood tests showed that his insulin was high, which made no sense to the attending physicians. Attendance by Allit resulted in another heart attack later that night, and he was transported to Nottingham, where he recovered. Despite this alarming increase in the incidence of unexplained health events, all in the presence of Allitt, no suspicions were aroused at this time, and she continued her spree of violence unchecked.