Last Updated on July 4, 2026
Beverley Allitt is an Angel of death serial killer who murdered four children and harmed many others whilst working as a nurse.
Allitt worked as a nurse in a children’s ward in Grantham Hospital and was responsible for the Grantham Hospital murders.
Beverley Allitt was sentenced to 13 concurrent life sentences and is detained at Rampton Secure Hospital, a psychiatric facility. She will serve a minimum of 30 years.
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Beverley Allitt Victims
Liam Taylor was seven weeks old when he was admitted for a chest infection.
He died after Beverley injected him with insulin and he stopped breathing for an hour and 15 minutes.
Although he was revived and placed on a respirator he had suffered significant brain damage.
His parents asked for him to be taken off the ventilator and he died that afternoon.
Beverley had volunteered to work an extra shift to care for Liam.
No one considered that the death was suspicious or that Beverley could be responsible until there were later deaths on the ward.
Two weeks later Timothy Hardwick, an 11 year old with cerebral palsy was admitted following an epileptic fit.
He was treated by Allitt and needed emergency resuscitation.
When the team arrived he had turned blue and had no pulse.
They were unable to revive him and cause of death was not discovered during his autopsy.
Kayley Desmond was one year old when she was admitted with a chest infection.
She appeared to be getting better but suddenly went into cardiac arrest.
She was resuscitated and moved to another hospital.
They discovered a needle hole in her armpit and air bubbles on her chest xray.
Beverley tried to murder Paul Crampton three times by injecting him with insulin.
Paul was admitted with a chest infection and doctors were baffled by his high insulin levels, resulting in three resuscitation’s.
He was moved to another hospital and Allitt rode in the ambulance with him.
When he arrived his insulin levels were high once again.
The next day, Bradley Gibson went into cardiac arrest after being admitted for pneumonia.
Blood tests showed a high insulin levels and he suffered a heart attack and was clinically dead for 32 minutes after being alone with Beverley.
He was moved to another hospital where he recovered.
The day after, 2 year old Yik Hung Chan turned blue and became distressed.
He responded to being given oxygen but later suffered another attack.
He was moved to another hospital where he recovered.
Twin sisters Katie and Becky Phillips were kept in for observation after being born premature.
Becky was brought into the ward on 1st April 1991 and placed under Beverley’s care.
She called for assistance claiming that she was cold to the touch and looked hypoglycaemic.
Doctors didn’t find a cause and she was sent home.
Sadly she died during the night and the autopsy was unable to determine cause of death.
Katie was brought into the hospital as a precaution.
She was looked after by Beverley and it was not long before she had stopped breathing.
She was successfully revived but two days later she went into respiratory distress and her lungs collapsed.
Katie was transferred to another hospital where she was found to have broken ribs from being squeezed.
She had also suffered brain damage due to being shaken.
Unaware of Beverley’s involvement in the death of Becky and, her parents asked her to be Katie’s Godmother.
The final victim of Beverley Allitt was 15 month old Claire Peck.
She was brought into the hospital after suffering an asthma attack.
She was in Allitt’s care for minutes before she suffered a heart attack and was successfully revived.
Claire was later alone with Allitt again and suffered a second heart attack and she was unable to be revived.
Her autopsy revealed she had died from natural causes.
A doctor injected Michael Davidson with a syringe that was prepped by Beverley and his heart stopped.
He was resuscitated and survived.
Christopher Peasgood was admitted with a chest infection and stopped breathing with in minutes of being alone with Beverley.
He recovered from this and the same happened again.
It is believed she may have smothered him and was lucky to have survived her attacks.
Christopher King was admitted for vomiting.
He was left alone with Beverley and stopped breathing.
Christopher turned blue but was able to be revived and he survived.
In a similar attack, Patrick Elstone stopped breathing and turned blue.
His emergency alarm had been switched off by Allitt.
Further reading – Angel of Death: Killer Nurse Beverly Allitt (AD*)
Investigation of the Grantham Hospital Murders
The death of Claire Peck led to suspicion from consultants at the hospital and junior doctors at Nottingham Hospital.
A blood test was carried out that shows high levels of potassium and Lignocaine was later discovered but the drug is never to be used on children.
The police were called and Superintendent Stuart Clifton immediately suspected foul play.
The cases were examined and it was found most of the children had been administered high doses of insulin.
Evidence was found that Beverley had reported the key missing to the insulin fridge.
She was immediately considered a suspect but at this time there was no conclusive evidence.
Security was heightened on the ward and a security camera was installed.
Daily nursing logs were checked and it was found that for all of the incidents Beverley Allitt was on shift.
However, some of the nursing log sheets were missing.
Suspension
Despite being suspended Beverley was able to find employment with the NHS and caring sector.
She was found not guilty of the attempted murder and GBH of Jonathan Jobson and Dorothy Lowe.
Jonathan Jobson fell ill on a shopping trip whilst Beverley was staying with the family.
It was alleged that she had added tablets to his drink that would lower his blood sugar.
The family reported a number of strange occurrences whilst she was staying with them.
These include Beverley setting fire to the curtains, pouring bleach on the carpet, an attempted poisoning of the dog and a knife left in a pillow.
Beverley Allitt Arrest
Beverley Allitt was arrested in September 1991.
She denied that she had any involvement in the incidents on the ward and Police were forced to release her.
She was suspended from the hospital and the incidents stopped immediately.
When Police searched her house they found missing parts of the nursing log that further implicated her.
They were able to rearrest her in November 1991.
She did not confess to any of the crimes and answered “no comment” to most of the questions the police asked her.
Trial
Beverley Allitt’s trial began in February 1993.
Prosecutors presented that she was present at each incident and they stopped once she was removed from the ward or the patients were taken to other hospitals.
They could also link the high levels of drugs and puncture marks to Beverley.
An expert testified that she was likely to have both Munchausen’s and Munchausen’s by Proxy syndrome.
She was found guilty of four counts of murder, eleven counts of attempted murder and eleven counts of causing grievous bodily harm.
Sentence
On May 28th 1993, Angel of Death Beverley Allitt was sentenced to 13 concurrent life sentences.
Beverley Allitt now in 2020 is detained at Rampton Secure Hospital, a psychiatric facility.
In 2007 it was confirmed that she must serve a minimum of 30 years.
Beverley Allitt’s family, in particular her father Richard Allitt were supportive of her.
They believed she would be cleared of the crimes upon appeal.
The family would regularly visit her in prison where she would nurse her sister’s baby.
In October 2018, Beverley Allitt got sepsis and nearly died in hospital.
Munchausens Syndrome
Beverley showed the symptoms of Munchausens Syndrome as a child.
She would wear dressings and bandages with no wounds and is said to have had her appendix removed despite it being healthy.
She was known to self harm and GPs were aware of her faked ailments.
Beverley did not achieve her qualifications in nursing due to her high level of absence from college.
She was taken on at the hospital on a temporary contract as the hospital was desperately understaffed.
When she became a nurse this developed into Munchausens Syndrome by proxy.
This is a syndrome where a person will cause harm to another in order to receive attention.
Media
Beverley Allitt was featured on documentary series Crimes That Shook Britain and in 2018, Trevor McDonald and the Killer Nurse.
The latest documentary featured a re-examination of the case and interviews from experts in the case.
New details were released including conversations with friends that she would never be sent to prison and interviews with a survivor, Kayley Desmond.
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*True Crime books or documentaries are available to purchase for further reading.
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